


The Chase

by GenevieveOHara



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, BAMF Danny "Danno" Williams, Bromance, Cargument, Dark, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, FUBAR - Freeform, Family, Friendship, Gen, Hurt, Hurt Steve, Hurt Steve McGarrett, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Torture, Injury, Major Character Injury, Navy, Ohana, Possibly Pre-Slash, Pre-Slash, Protective Danny "Danno" Williams, Rugby, Sickfic, Slash, Steve McGarrett & Danny "Danno" Williams Friendship, Steve!whump, Thriller, Torture, Undercover, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-10-30 19:03:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 35,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17834345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GenevieveOHara/pseuds/GenevieveOHara
Summary: “What is this?” Kono asked.“I’m not sure. I was able to pull it off the info Steve got from that computer. It looks like some sort of human auction. But then I found this,” Jerry showed another page of the website. It was a spreadsheet with pictures of people, ID numbers, and scores. These scores included how long a ‘subject’ could withstand being without oxygen, how long it took ‘subjects’ to die after dehydration, how a ‘subject’ reacted to drugs and chemicals.“What the fuck is this?” Danny asked looking pale and drawn.“From what I can see, these are illegal, unethical human experiments. People post auctions for experiments they want done and users give proposals with cost for services. Each experiment was uploaded onto the dark web in the last two years. It looks like we have dozens of posts, each with anywhere from four to fifteen subjects,” Jerry replied.When the bodies of two men are found showing similar signs of torture the team decides to send a member in undercover. When the cover is compromised and the the team has to race to save one of their own, things go FUBAR...big time. Will the team be reunited in time or will tragedy strike the Five-0 Task Force?(Takes place around season 5 or 6)





	1. Chapter 1: Bodies

“Hey! Hey!” Danny yelled and thrust his arm between his body and the car’s door as Steve spun the camaro around a tight corner.

  
“Jerry, we have a black sedan fleeing from Yu’s place. We’re heading northeast on the Pali Highway, just outside of Lulumahu Falls,” Steve reported, ignoring Danny’s protests.

“Do you want me to have HPD put up a roadblock?” Jerry asked. Steve looked around as they drove further into the jungle.

“Not yet. Just call them and have them be on standby,” Steve said. “Danny, there is going to be a sharp bend in the road just after the bridge. To make the turn, the perps will have to slow down. Shoot out the tires.”

“Fine, if it means this death defying car chase can end!” Danny complained loudly as he unholstered and readied his gun, unbuckled his seatbelt, and rolled the passenger side window down. Wind battered his face as he prepared to line up his shot with the sedan’s back tires.

“We’ll be coming up to the bend soon,” Steve warned as they sped down the bridge, dodging around another car.

“Hey, watch it!” Danny warned as the movement made him slam against the door and the open window. Steve gave him a reproachful look.

“Danny, stop complaining and get ready to shoot. By the time HPD can get a roadblock set up past the curve we will be going into schools and residential areas.”

The road curved sharply and Danny focused his aim on the sedan’s rear passenger wheel. He fired off one bullet, a miss. Another, a miss that broke a tail light. A third bullet left his gun and struck the sedan’s tire, which subsequently burst and caused the whole sedan to skid off the road and into the dense ditchline.

“Great job, Danno!” Steve smiled as he slowed to a stop by the wreckage.

Both men get of the camaro, level their guns on the sedan, and cautiously approach the wreck. The sedan’s passenger side was dented from where it hit a tree. The driver was laying over the steering wheel with a gash above his eyebrow.

“Five-0! Slowly put your hands on the steering wheel!” Danny commanded the driver who groaned, lifted his hands, and placed them on the steering wheel.

“Book ‘em, Danno,” Steve tells him, smiling. Danny glares back at him, but pulls his handcuffs out anyway.

“I hate you. I really, really hate you, Steven!” Danny yelled at his partner’s back.

“No, you don’t!” Steve bantered back. “Hurry up, if we get back to the office soon maybe we can get the paperwork done.”

“We? YOU mean me. YOU never do paperwork,” Danny huffed as he ran after his partner tugging their collar with him.

 

“McGarrett,” Steve said into his phone. He sighed and put his hand on his hip.

“Duke, do they have an ID?”

“Ok, Danny and I can be at the start of the trail in thirty,” he said and waves Danny into his office.

“Case?” Danny asked, leaning on the door frame.

“Yeah, can you text Chin and Kono to meet us at the beginning of the Diamond Head Trail? A group of hikers found a body this morning. I’m going to call Max and have him meet us there.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Danny replied and pulls out his phone. “Chin, a group of hikers found a body off the Diamond Head Trail. Five-O is going to take this one, so can you meet Steve and I there? We are going to be leaving the palace in five.”

“No problem, Danny. Kono and I will meet you in about half an hour.”

“Thanks, man.” Danny said and gave Steve a nod., “They’ll meet us at Diamond Head in thirty minutes.

“Ok, from what Duke said, we are going to have to hike about a mile off of the main trail to get to the body, so you might want to change your shoes,” Steve said, glancing down at Danny’s work shoes.

“My shoes are fine!” Danny complained, “They’re comfortable, durable, and perfectly fine for hiking a mile! Unlike you, I don’t feel the need to wear tactical boots everywhere.”

“Danno, it’s Oahu! You could at least wear something that is breathable… or at least won’t be ruined by water,” Steve argued.

“I wouldn’t have to if you stopped chasing all of our suspects into the ocean,” Danny muttered, but grabbed his badge from the drawer in his office.

 

The parking lot was buzzing with HPD vehicles by the time Danny and Steve arrived. They found Chin and Kono talking with Duke at the beginning of the trail.

“Boss, I was just talking with Duke. The vic was found early this morning by a group of tourists hiking off the main trail. There was no ID, but Max is with the body now,” Kono informed them.

“Thanks, Kono. Let’s head up there and see if we can find out who he is, or at least what he is doing here,” Steve said, leading the group down the trail.

The victim, a man who appeared to be about thirty years old, was half buried underneath a pile of broken twigs, ferns, and other plants. The crime scene unit was walking around the scene taking photos and slowly moving the pile of plant parts that temporarily hid the body from view. Max was examining the visible torso and head of the victim.

“Max, what have you got for us?” Danny asked. Max stood up and looked at the team.

“Our victim appears to be a male pacific islander between twenty five and thirty five years of age. Liver temperature indicates that he has been dead between twelve and fourteen hours, meaning that he must have been died between midnight and two a.m. I haven’t found cause of death yet, but on first glance the body shows signs of an intense beating within the last forty eight hours.”

“Well, I’m not seeing any signs of a struggle here, so this is starting to look more like a body dump,” Chin said, pointing to the ground surrounding the body. “The killer must have left him here thinking that he wouldn’t be found.”

“Yeah, but I’m not seeing any obvious signs of how the killer managed to move the body from the main trail. This guy has to be what,” Steve paused and looked over the body, “Six foot two and 220 pounds. There is no way a single killer would have been able to carry our vic from the main trail out here and I don’t see any signs of him being dragged.”

“Maybe the killer had help,” Danny replied.

“Steve, take a look at this,” Chin called from a few yards away. “I’ve got boot prints over here.”

Steve walked over, “These are definitely fresh, they look to be about a size eleven, like mine. The prints are deep. It looks like our killer did carry our victim out here.”

“Yeah, but the prints stop here, I can’t find any others around.”

“That’s odd, take a few pictures and maybe we can find the type of boot that made them and narrow down our suspects later,” Steve suggests and goes back to where Max is examining the body.

“Commander, I’m going to transfer our victim back to the crime lab. I’ll be in contact with you when I find anything you might find useful,” Max said.

“Alright, thank you, Max.” Steve said and turned to Kono.

“Kono, I want you to call Jerry and see if anyone fitting our body’s description turned up on a missing persons report. Danny, it doesn’t look like we are going to find anything here, let’s head back and see if any of the evidence CSU collected can give us something.”

“Yeah, it’s starting to look like our guy cleaned up after himself pretty well. The body didn’t have a wallet or a phone and we didn’t find one nearby. Maybe, that shoe print Chin found can tell us something.”

The shoe print was a bust. It came back as a rather popular hiking boot that was sold online and in multiple stores around the island. The crime lab had run the victim’s clothes and found traces methyl salicylate and menthol, common ingredients in muscle and joint pain relief creams. Kono’s search for missing persons came up dry, but Max’s report showed that a majority of the injuries occurred the night of the victim’s death.

Max’s report was the most helpful to the team. He had found multiple unhealed lacerations, contusions, and fractures all throughout John Doe’s body, but he had also found older healed scars and broken bones. Max made it clear that the victim had more old injuries than a normal person should have. Max had also found old surgical scars on the victim’s lower left leg that indicated the victim had surgery to put pins in his leg after a particularly nasty break. He was trying to extract the pins and find the victim’s name by running the serial numbers.

Max also found that the cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning. He couldn’t explain how this occurred, but he did specify that the victim experienced prolonged exposure to high concentrations of carbon monoxide in the air. The victim most likely didn’t even know he was being exposed to the gas because of the hallucinations followed by a loss of consciousness before death.

 

“Hey, Boss!” Kono called from the computer. “It looks like Max was able to ID our John Doe from the surgical pins.” The rest of the team filed around the computer as Kono brought up the victim’s Hawaii driver’s licence on the screen.

“Our John Doe is actually Ioane Kahele, a local supply chain consultant for multiple shipping companies that run through the island. He was thirty two and he lived alone according to our records,” Kono said.

“Chin, call Kahele’s boss and see if he knows if he was in any trouble, maybe with smuggling or illegal drug trade due to his job? Kono, can you see if he has any family left on the island and notify them? Jerry, I want you to go through Ioane’s financial history and see if anything unusual pops up.” Steve delegated. “Danny and I will go Kahele’s apartment and see if we can find anything there. Kahele had enemies on this island, and we are going to find them.”

“Of course, Boss. Do you want me to contact Kamekona?” Chin asked as Jerry and Kono went back to their offices.

“Not yet. As far as the public knows, HPD is in charge of the case and I want to keep it that way. We haven’t had a lot of presence in the news lately, so I’m hoping we are able to stay under the suspect’s radar,” Steve said.

“Right. I’ll call you if I find anything,” Chin responded.

“Mahalo,” Steve said smiling before heading over to where Danny was waiting for him.

 

Kahele’s apartment was situated on Ekela Avenue in a small two story building. The landlord was willing to lend Steve and Danny the keys to the apartment after being informed that Ioane Kahele was found dead earlier that day. Danny and Steve unlocked the door and cautiously entered the studio apartment.

“It’s clear. I’m not seeing any sign of a struggle,” Danny commented as he shut the closet door.

“Me either. I don’t see anything that would be out of the ordinary. No drug paraphernalia, no weapons, I can’t even find alcohol in the place,” Steve agreed and looked around the studio again.

“Danny, it looks like Kahele might not have been beaten to get those old injuries that Max found,” Steve said pointing to a poster of the New Zealand All Blacks on the wall and an oblong ball that rested near the front door.

“What?” Danny asked his partner before pointing at the wall, “You think Kahele was playing rugby and all those old bruises and fractures were caused by that and not being involved in O’ahu’s more shady businesses?”

Steve frowned, “I mean, sure, why couldn’t he have been? Rugby has been popular here for as long as I can remember. A lot of immigrants from the pacific islands founded teams that have been competing with one another for decades.”

“So, you are telling me people on this island also like to play a game that has literally killed people? Why shouldn’t I be surprised?” Danny complained under his breath as Steve set a duffle bag on the sofa. He unzipped it and pulled out a royal blue striped jersey and held it up to Danny.

“It looks like Ioane was a member of the Hawaii Harlequins. I doubt those old injuries Max found were from gang activities.”

“Well, that’s good,” Danny said, but gestures to the rest of the apartment, “but we still don’t know why Ioane was beaten, murdered, and left for the birds at Diamond Head.”

“True, maybe Jerry will be able to find something from Kahele’s financial records.”

“Maybe,” Danny replied. “Let’s head back to HQ and look into this rugby lead. I’m sure a bunch of testosterone filled, meatheads that love to kill one another in the name of sport would have no problem killing someone in real life.”

Steve sighed, but walked out the door, locking it behind them. The pair walked down the outdoor hall, but stopped as one of Kahele’s neighbors stuck his head out into the hall.

“Hey, you cops?” He asked as they passed.

“Yes, is there anything we can do for you? Mister?” Danny asked.

“Gastel,” the old man replied, “Did something happen to Ioane?”

“Uh, yes, sir,” Steve started, “Mr. Kahele’s body was recovered this morning.”

“Oh God!” Gastel exclaimed loudly, “I asked him if he was alright two days ago, but I knew I should have called the police.”

“Wait, wait. What do you mean?” Danny stopped the man, “Did something happen?”

“Uh, yeah,” Gastel said trying to remember, “I was watching Jeopardy late the night before and I fell asleep on the couch. I woke up around eight Sunday morning to an argument down the hall. Ioane was yelling at another man about something, I couldn’t hear what. It got pretty heated and the other man tried to punch Ioane… that’s when I stepped in and said I was calling the cops. The guy ran off and Ioane assured me that it was fine and his friend would cool off, so I let it drop.”

“Ok, great. Does this building have security cameras?” Steve asked.

“No, but I can tell you this man was Latino, maybe in his thirties, and about your build. He had a scar on his face, about here,” Gastel said drawing a line from his chin to bottom lip with his finger.

“And you couldn’t hear anything about what they were arguing about?” Danny asked Gastel.

“No, I’m sorry, but if you have any more questions I will be here,” Gastel said pointing at his own apartment door.

“We will, thank you Mr. Gastel,” Steve said and shook the old man’s hand.

 

They were back in the camaro when Steve’s phone rang. He tossed it to Danny who answered and put Kono on speaker phone.

“Steve, Danny. I spoke with Kahele’s family. His parents passed away in a car crash in 2008 and his only other relative, a sister, lives on the main land now. She said she hadn’t spoken to Ioane in months and that she had no idea who would do this to her brother,” Kono told them.

“Ok, so it looks like that is a dead end. Did the sister know if Ioane had a significant other?” Danny asked.

“No, she said Ioane didn’t talk to her about that kind of thing.”

“Alright, Danny and I are on our way back now. The apartment was clear, no signs of anything suspicious inside. We did find out the Kehele was a member of the Harlequin’s rugby team, and that his neighbor witnessed a fight between Ioane and another man two days ago,” Steve informed her.

“Did the neighbor know who this other man was?” Kono asked.  
“No, but he gave a vague description. Male, about thirty, Latino. He’s probably about six foot tall and maybe 170 lbs. He also has a scar that runs from his chin to his bottom lip.”

“Got it,” Kono said, “I’ll put it into the computer and see if we can get a hit.”

“Thanks,” Steve said. Right after he said this his phone started to beep, signalling another caller was trying to reach him. He looked over at Danny.

“It’s Duke.” Danny said.

“Hey, Kono, we’ve got a call coming from Duke. We’ll call you back later.” Steve said and answered Duke’s call.

“Duke, did you find anything else at the trail?” Steve asked.

“Not at the trail, no.” Duke started, “we found another body washed up on the north shore. A group of surfers pulled him out of the waves. It looks like it might be connected to Ioane Kahele’s case.”

“Wait, wait, what?” Steve asked, pulling the car into a parking lot and taking the phone out of Danny’s hand. He ignored the glare.

“Another body was found about an hour ago washed up on a beach on the north shore. It displays the same signs of a beating and no visible cause of death…” Duke explained, “And Steve, he had Ioane Kahele’s address written on a piece of paper in his wallet.”

“Damn, send us the address and we’ll be right over,” Danny asked Duke, “Can you have Dr. Bergman meet us there as well?”

“No problem, I’ll wait here until Five-0 takes over,” Duke said.

“Thanks, man. See you then,” Steve said before hanging up and turning to Danny.

“Text Chin and have him meet us there. Tell Kono and Jerry, but I think we can handle the scene by ourselves on this one. I want them to continue searching for what Ioane Kahele did that got him killed.”

 

The beach was flagged off with police tape where crowds of people were congregating trying to see the body. Steve and Danny pushed passed a few surfers before HPD saw them and lifted the tape.

“A group of surfers cam across the body floating near shore about two hours ago,” Duke said. “The condition of the body makes me believe that the case might be linked to the Ioane Kahele case.”

“Alright, thanks, Duke. We have Dr. Bergman on his way, so HPD can head out if you need to,” Danny said.

“I’ll leave you two officers to man the perimeter, but the rest of us will get out of your hair. Good luck, Danny, Steve,” Duke said nodding goodbye to each of them.

“Bye, Duke.”

 

Duke was right, the body did show signs of a bad beating just like Ioane Kahele’s body. CSU had emptied that man’s pockets and laid the contents on a dry towel on the sand next to where the body was dragged out of the water. A black phone, a full keyring, a soggy leather wallet, and a piece of paper that was mostly spared from water damage. Steve crouched down by the towel, pulled on a pair of nitrile gloves, and opened the wallet. He pulled out its contents and removed a driver's license.

“Danny, it looks like our victim’s name is Mateo Barna. According to this he lives in Kailua,” Steve said holding up the driver’s license.

“And Danny, I think Barna might be our mystery guy that was at Kahele’s apartment the other day. Look at the scar.”

He handed the ID to Danny and picked up the phone. It was a newer model, but the salt water must have killed it because it wouldn’t turn on. Maybe they could recover something off of the sim card.

“Barna does fit Gastel’s description, especially with the scar,” Danny said, “But, if Barna is dead, seemingly in a very similar way to Kahele, that means that he wasn’t the murder.”

“No, but someone could have killed both Kahele and Barna over what they were arguing about,” Steve said.

“Right, we need to find out how Kahele and Barna are connected and figure out if the topic of that argument would be motive enough for another person to kill them both,” Danny said, “I’ll call Kono and have her cross reference Kahele and Barna and see if they have any connections.”

“Alright, it looks like Max is here, let’s see if he can pinpoint time of death for us.”

Based on liver temperature and the condition of the body, Max was able to determine that Mateo Barna died around the same time that Kahele died. Max was also able to say the the bruising was similar to Kahele’s as well.

“I can’t see any direct cause of death, but do you see the cherry-red skin color on the victim? On rare occasions, carbon monoxide poisoning presents with this change in skin tone due to the formation of Carboxyhemoglobin in large concentrations. I can’t say cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning yet, but it certainly is a possibility,” Max said.

“Ok, thanks, Max. Call us if you find anything. We’re going to head back to the palace and work out how these two victims are related.”

“Will do, Commander,” Max said and turned back to the body.

 

“So, it looks like Barna worked at a civil engineer at a consulting firm. The company has never worked with any of the companies Kahele worked for,” Kono said. “However, I was able to find identical charges on their credit cards. They seemed to be able to go to bars and restaurants together about once a week. Both Kahele and Barna paid for memberships with USA rugby as well as for club dues to the Hawaii Harlequin, one of the island’s men’s rugby teams. That was the only connection the two share that I could find.”

“So, Barna and Kahele both were friends and members of the same rugby team, and both turn up dead after an argument on the same day?” Steve asked.

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s a coincidence,” Chin said, “Kono, can run a background check on the rest of the team? Maybe one of them is involved with something shady that Kahele and Barna found out about.”

“Uh, yeah. Just a minute, cuz,” Kono said and tapped on her tablet.

“It looks like three men on the team have records. One man, Joshua Lloyd, spent three months on the mainland for theft when he was nineteen. He is now thirty-two and works with troubled youth in his free time. Another player, John Casein, pleaded guilty of possession of pakelolo and once for public intox. The third player, Lagi Mafua Jr., pleaded guilty to a DUI in 2008.”

“None of those offenses point to someone who would brutally beat and murder two of their teammates,” Danny said. “I mean all of these guys are unhinged, but I don’t think a group of substance abusers and a reformed teen thief would jump directly to double homicide.”

“I don’t think so either, Chin, Kono why don’t you head down to the team’s pitch. Their facebook page has practice scheduled for tonight at six. Try to see if anyone knows why two of their teammates are dead. Danny and I are going to investigate Barna’s place. Maybe there will be something there.”

 

Barna’s home had two cars in the driveway, one looked like the silver sedan that Kahele owned, and the other was Barna’s white pick up truck. Steve pointed the cars out to Danny, “Looks like Kahele came to visit Barna and never left.”

“Yeah, it looks like it,” Danny said, pulling his gun from his holster and walking to the front door.

The house was clear of hostiles, but there were signs of struggle in the living room. The floor was littered with glass from a broken glass, the coffee table was cracked in half, and a small pool of blood stained the cream carpet.

“So, it looks like Barna and Kahele were here and a third person was here, knocked our victims unconscious, and managed to take them to a secondary location?” Steve asked, uncertain.

“Yeah, that confused me too,” Danny said, pointing around, “Two, athletic, muscular men are abducted by one guy and this is the only damage done? I don’t think so.”

“Maybe our kidnapper had a weapon or someone else to help them, but I don’t see any signs of forced entry. Meaning that our suspect was let in by Barna,” Steve said.

“Yeah, let’s call CSU to scan the house for anything left behind and have them run the blood stains,” Danny said.

 

The Harlequin’s rugby pitch was located at Beretania Park, and the parking lot was already nearly full of vehicles belonging to the players. Kono parked her car and turned to Chin, “Steve texted me saying that both Barna’s and Kahele’s cars were present at the house. Barna’s house was empty, but showed signs of a struggle, so we’re looking at a snatch and grab.”

“Did they know anything else?” Chin asked.

“No, but they’re having CSU look over the house and maybe the suspect left something behind,” Kono replied. “Let’s go see if any of the players know anything.”

The pair got out of their car and approached the rugby pitch where a group of about twenty five men were standing and talking. The youngest men appeared to be just out of college and the oldest men appeared to be in their forties. There was a healthy amount of body types present at the practice, short and stocky, tall and lean, and everyone in between, but they all looked pretty fit.

“Hey, how can we help you?” A younger player asked Chin and Kono as they approached.

“Hi, my name is Officer Kalakaua and this is my partner Officer Kelly. We were wondering if you’ve heard from your teammates Ioane Kahele or Mateo Barna?”

“Ioane or Mats, no, I haven’t seen them since our last practice last Thursday. Why, has something happened to them?” The player asked.

“They were found murdered this morning. Is there someone else on the team that might have seen them in the past two days?” Chin asked.

“Wait, wait. They’re dead?” The player asked.

“Yes, I’m sorry, Mister…?” Kono said.

“James, Declan James,” the player said, “and uh… Ioane is one of our flankers and Mats is our eight-man. They usually hang out with the rest of the forwards, but I think they were pretty close with Koa Pukui.”

“Ok, is Koa here?” Chin asked.

“Yeah, he’s right over there. The guy in the yellow shirt,” Declan said pointing to another player who was shorter and stockier than a majority of the team.

“Thank you, and we’re sorry for your loss,” Kono said before leaving to talk with Koa.

 

“Koa, can we talk with you in private please?” Chin asked.

“Umm, yeah, sure. Just a sec, guys,” Koa said to the men he was talking with. He led the group over to and empty bench on the side of the pitch. “What can I do for you?”

“We’re with HPD, and I’m afraid we have some bad news about Ioane Kahele and Mateo Barna,” Chin said.

“What… what do you mean?”

“We found their bodies this morning. Their bodies indicated that foul play was involved,” Chin explained. Koa frowned and sat down on the bench hard.

“They were murdered?” Koa asked.

“It appears so, yes.” Chin said. “We need to ask you some questions, if that’s ok?”

“Oh my god, yes, of course. Whatever I can do to help.”

“Thank you. When was the last time you talked with either Ioane or Mateo?”

“I talked with them both Saturday night when we went out for drinks at the Hideaway Bar. I texted them both Sunday morning to see if they wanted to surf with me on the North Shore, but I didn’t get a reply.”

“Ok, is that normal for them?”

“Ioane was really bad at replying to text messages, but Mats always texted back within an hour or two.”

“Ok, great. We have a witness outside of Ioane’s apartment that saw Mateo and Ioane having an argument Sunday morning. Do you know what that was about?”

“No, but they’ve been acting weird and arguing on and off for the past two weeks. It all started after our match against Raiders.”

“Did anything happen when you played the Raiders? Anything out of the ordinary?”

“No, but they did host a social that I didn’t attend. Not a lot of guys did go if I can remember,” Koa said.

“Who else attended the social after the game?” Chin asked.

“Uh, Joey Nohea went I think… and maybe John Lloyd.”

“Ok, thank you,” Kono said writing the names and the information about the social down on a notepad. “We’ll be in touch with you if we have anymore questions.”

 

Chin and Kono talked with the rest of the team and learned that both victims were alone on the island, weren’t in a relationship, and didn’t appear to have any troubles with money, drugs, or other people. They said goodbye to the team with a promise to keep them updated if they arrested anyone for the murders and headed back to headquarters where they met Danny, Steve, and Jerry.

“So, we talked with the team. Ioane and Mateo’s friend, Koa Pukui, said that they started to argue with one another and act strange after attending a social hosted by the Raiders, another team on the island,” Kono said to the team.

“We talked with the other team members that attended that specific social, one player, John Lloyd left early and didn’t remember anything strange happening. Joey Nohea was also there, but he said he got pretty drunk and doesn’t remember much. However, he does remember Ioane and Mateo going into a back room for something.”

“Alright, alright,” Steve started, “So we have two rugby players who seem to keep their noses clean. They both go to a backroom at a social and start acting strange afterwards. Two weeks later, they end up beaten and dead in body dumps. I’m starting to think they saw something they shouldn’t have at that social.”

“I’ll run the players of the Raiders and see if anything comes up,” Jerry said.

“Thanks, Jerry. In the meantime, I think I have an idea,” Steve said.

 


	2. Chapter 2: The Plan

“Alright, alright,” Steve started, “So we have two rugby players who seem to keep their noses clean. They both go to a backroom at a social and start acting strange afterwards. Two weeks later, they end up beaten and dead in body dumps. I’m starting to think they saw something they shouldn’t have at that social.”

“I’ll run the players of the Raiders and see if anything comes up,” Jerry said.

“Thanks, Jerry. In the meantime, I think I have an idea,” Steve said.

 

 

“No! No, this is a stupid idea, Steven!” Danny ranted. “Have you even played the game before?”

Steve snorted, “Do you think I would have come up with this plan if I didn’t know how to play?”

“Knowing you? Yes!” Danny argued. “You have a death wish!”

“Well, do you have any other ideas on how we are going to get invited to one of those socials?” Steve asked.

“Where did you even learn to play rugby?” Danny grumbled ignoring Steve's question.

“When I attended military academy on the mainland they didn’t have enough students to field a football team, but they did have rugby. We were forced to play at least one sport while there, so I played rugby for two years. I also played while at the Naval Academy.”

“Jesus, Steve! That was fifteen years ago! Have you even played since?” Danny asked loudly.

“Not in a formal league, but I have played pick up games in sevens every once in a while when I was still enlisted,” Steve replied. “Look, Danny, I’ll be fine. It’s not like I’m out of shape and I still have muscle memory.”

“That’s not the point, Steve! The point is that you want to go undercover for a job that might not even get information about the murders!”

“Yeah, well, it’s our best bet… and I don’t see anybody else being able to make it on to the team. Kono can’t because it’s an all male league and you and Chin have never played before,” Steve said.

“Fine, but I don’t like it,” Danny complained.

“Look, I’ve already emailed them. They have practice tomorrow night, and are looking for players. If I do well, there’s a match Saturday followed by a social. I go, see what goes on in that backroom, and maybe figure out who killed our victims and why.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just be safe, you neanderthal,” Danny told his partner after giving up on using reason with Steve.

“Always am, Danno!” Steve smiled.

 

Steve’s practice with the Raiders came quickly with all the preparations he had to make. He went out the night before and bought a pair of cleats, a mouth guard, and a few pairs of rugby shorts. They were shorter and the thicker fabric was more durable than what he normally wore working out, but they would do.

He met up with the team in the morning and gave them a short briefing of his plans.

“Alright, practice is at 5:30 tonight. I’m going to Steven Malone, a carpenter from the mainland who just moved here two weeks ago,” Steve started.

Danny snorted and Steve glared at him, “Problem with that?”

“Oh, no. It’s just going to be entertaining seeing you pretend to know nothing about island life.”

“Ha ha.” Steve said dryly, “The plan is to make the team and be invited to the social Saturday night. See if I can find anything about that backroom activity or if it could have gotten someone killed.”

“Ok Boss. Do you want us to have a wire going, or just have surveillance setup from afar?” Kono asked.

“For the practice and the game, surveillance should be alright. I’ll wear a wire to the social. This could be a dead end, but I have a hunch something big is going on here,” Steve said.

 

“Hey, I’m Steve. Steve Malone,” Steve said, offering his hand to Ryan Zhu, the Raiders’ captain.

“Aloha, Steve. I’m Ryan. So, you said you’ve played before?”

“Yeah. I played back in high school and then in college. I ended up moving somewhere with no team, but I’m here now…” Steve smiled.

“Welcome. What positions are you comfortable playing? We need some numbers in the forwards,” Ryan said.

“I’ve played center, scrum-half, eight-man, flanker, and hooker. If you need forwards, I’d be willing to give it a try.”

“Great. Why don’t you join the forwards for now. You’re a little too small for front-row here, but if you want to pair with Jacob Tankai, you can give flanker a try,” Ryan said, pointing to a well built asian man standing by a group of players who were stretching.

“Great, thanks!” Steve smiled and joined the group in stretching.

“Oi, who’s the newbie?” A tall blonde man asked in a british accent.

“I’m Steve. Just moved to the island a few weeks back.”

“Aloha, I’m Jacob. What does Ryan want you to play?” Tankai asked.

“Flanker, I guess.”

“I guess you’re with me then. Just in time too,” Tankai said.

“What do you mean?” Steve asked the group.

“Oh, Reiko, our other flanker got a pretty rough concussion a few days back. Won’t be able to play for a few weeks,” Tankai said.

The rest of the group introduced themselves. It looked like the group was pretty friendly and welcoming. Steve learnt that the tighthead prop, Michael, was a local guy who worked as a delivery truck driver. The team’s hooker, Ken, was the tall british man who worked for a trading group, but was heading back to the UK at the end of the season. Lee and his brother Amos were both locals who owned a tourist shop and played props for the team. Both Locks were tall, bulky ex-military guys who worked as security consultants for the sugar fields. Jacob Tankai, the other flanker, was a tall asian man who worked as a photographer, mostly for weddings. The last men in the group were the eight-man, Willy, a banker, and Peter, a young guy who filled in as a replacement for most forward positions.

“So, what do you guys do at a normal practice?” Steve asked.

“Well, we start with a team warm up. We run a few laps, practice some tackling drills, and then split into forwards and backs,” Tankai said.

“Yeah, then the backs go do their hair and look pretty and we work on scrums, lineouts, and mauls,” Ken joked and the group laughed. Steve joined in at the obvious friendly rivalry between the backs and the forwards.

Steve was a little rusty at first, but soon remembered how to hold himself on the field. Practice was long and by the time it was over Steve was covered in sweat, grass stains, and mud. His muscles ached and his thich protested after a pretty hard hit during the scrimmage

“Hey, Malone!” Tankai called after Steve as he left the pitch. “After our next match we’re having a social at our clubhouse. You should come.”

“Mahalo, man!” Steve smiled, “I’ll keep my schedule open. Hopefully I’ll make it.”

“Great! See ya’ Thursday,” Tankai said and stuck out his hand. Steve shook it and waved to the rest of the team before heading back to his truck.

 

“So, I talked with most of the guys last night. None of them struck me as killers, but I didn’t have a lot of time to chat,” Steve informed the rest of the team on his way into work Wednesday morning.

“And, did you get invited to the social?” Danny asked.

“I did, so as long as I keep my cover and don’t mess up too much I will be at that social,” Steve said as he pulled into his parking spot at the palace. “Listen, I just parked. I’ll be up in a second and we can talk then.”

Steve walked past the security and into the Five-0 offices. Chin and Kono were sipping coffee by the main computer and Danny was in his office. Steve knocked on Danny’s door.

“Hey, it looks like CSU has finally finished analyzing all of the evidence from both crime scenes. Chin has the reports up in the lobby.”

“Alright, how was your self-induced torture last night?”

“It was lovely, Danno. Thanks,” Steve barbed back.

“I just don’t get why we can’t perform a raid on Saturday? It would save us all a lot of work.”

“Because, we might be able to get someone to talk about what goes on in that room or what happened to Mateo or Ioane. If we go crashing in nobody is going to talk about something that got two men murdered... or about the murders themselves.”

“Fine,” Danny said, “I see that your thick head is set on the idea. Let’s go see what Eric found us.”  
Steve rolled his eyes and followed Danny out to the lobby.

 

“Chin, what do we have to work with?”

“Well, the lab wasn’t able to recover much from Barna’s body. The water destroyed anything that would have been left on his clothes. However, Kahele’s clothes had traces of silicon, aluminum, iron, and phosphorus. His shoes also had metal shavings stuck in the treads.”

“Okay, so Barna’s body seems to be a dead end right now. However, Kahele must have been at an industrial site right before his death. The traces of those elements could have been picked up anywhere, though,” Kono said.

“Max also sent over his reports. He confirmed that both men died from carbon monoxide poisoning late Sunday night or early Monday morning. He also found that both men showed signs of partially metabolized Rohypnol in their systems,” Chin said.

"The Rohypnol in their systems matched the Rohypnol traces found at Barna's house."

“So, both Ioane and Mateo are drugged so that they can be kidnapped. Both are beaten severely for some reason. The perp then kills them by using carbon monoxide, maybe from a exhaust pipe or something. Then, both bodies show up disposed of the next day.” Danny reasons, “It seems like this wasn’t a random attack. Someone spent time getting the drugs, planning the abduction so that neither man was seen getting taken, and...uh… trying to dispose of the bodies.”

“But why beat them if the killer was planning on poisoning them with carbon monoxide in the end?” Steve asked.

“Maybe killing them wasn’t the plan initially. The beatings could have been a scare technique in order to insure silence about whatever those two saw,” Kono guessed.

“Maybe,” Chin said, “Steve, you are going to have to figure out what was going on at that club house.”

“I’ll try. I think we need to look into everyone involved with the team and that clubhouse right now before we start looking elsewhere. Something just doesn’t add up,” Steve said.

“Will do. I’ll run the financials on everyone involved with the clubs. See if anyone has any outstanding debts or unexplained income,” Kono said.

“I’ll look into any possible gang-related connections,” Chin said and followed Kono out of the lobby.

“Danny, let’s go see if any of our CI’s have any information that can help us out.”

 

Neither Kamekona or any of the rest of the confidential informants knew about any happenings within the rugby community or within any of the gangs that run within the island. The team spent Wednesday and Thursday running down leads that provided new information. Chin and Kono were pulled away to investigate a string of robberies at the high end retail shops in Waikiki.

Steve attended the rugby practice Thursday night and gained no new information from any of the other players. Ryan Zhu and Jacob Tankai both reminded him of the match on Saturday and the social following it, but Steve made sure to seem uncertain if he would make it by making up a lie that he might have to work on some cabinet installation in a new house on the North Shore.

Saturday morning came fast enough for Steve and the team. Danny’s weekend with Grace and Charlie was pushed back to a few weekdays because Rachel and Stan wanted to visit the mainland, so Danny met Steve early at the palace. Chin and Kono were already setting up surveillance at the club house.

“Here’s your shirt for tonight. The wire is sewn into the hemline and there is a microphone in the collar so that we can hear everything you are saying,” Danny explained and handed the new navy button down over to his partner. “We will be tracking your movements with your phone if we have to, so please, I am begging you. Keep. It. Charged.”

Steve rolled his eyes and snatched the shirt away from Danny.

“Danny, I’m a Navy SEAL. My phone is always charged,” Steve retorted to his friend.

“Uh-huh. You say that, but remember that time I needed you to pick Gracie up from school because the Camaro broke down? Or that time you chased that perp at the docks and screwed up your foot? Or that time…” Danny ranted.

“Okay! Okay, I get it! I’ll make sure my cell is fully charged.”

“Good. Now, Chin and Kono are going to be setting up surveillance for tonight, so I’m going to cover you at the game. We’ll all be back-up tonight.”

“Fine. What’s your cover?” Steve asked his partner, hands on his hips.

“I don’t know! I’ll be your roommate or something. Who’s going to ask?”

“Trust me, they’ll ask once you have an aneurism everytime I get tackled,” Steve groaned.

“Well, you tell me who I am then!”

“My roommate is fine, but make sure you act like we’ve known each other for longer. We met each other on the mainland,” Steve warned Danny.

“God. Steve. I doubt you’ll need someone as backup, so I’m not planning on leaving the bleachers unless something goes wrong.”

“Fine. The match starts at two and should be done by four at the latest. Meet me there at 1:30 and see if you can get anything out of the partners and families.”

“Good. I’ll see you at 1:30,” Danny said.

“And, don’t wear anything that screams cop!” Steve yelled to Danny as he walked out the door.

 

“Oi, Steve, who’s the guy?” Ken asked him as Steve approached Danny.

“Ken, this is my roommate, Danny,” Steve introduced the two, “Danny, this is Ken.”

“Ah, nice to meet ya’, Danny,” Ken said and held his hand out to Danny.

“Likewise,” Danny smiled, “Steve, I’m going to go find somewhere to sit, good luck.”

“Thanks, man,” Steve replied.

“Yeah, just don’t die out there,” Danny said honestly.

“I’ll be fine, Danny. Just go find somewhere to sit,” Steve assured his partner and walked to the benches where the rest of the team was stretching and passing the ball around.

“Man, how long have you been married?” Ken joked with Steve.

“He’s just my roommate, man. We’ve known each other for years though.”

“Uh-huh, sure, mate. If that’s what makes you feel better,” Ken said and slapped Steve on the back. “Go stretch and then the forwards are going to do some scrums before kick-off.”

 

Steve stood between Ryan and Amos in the middle of the field at half-time. The Raiders were down by two trys to the Titans and Steve’s body ached. He could feel bruises forming just underneath his skin and he had a pretty large cut on his knee that stung when he ran, but he was focused on winning the game.

“Alright, we can still win this game,” Ryan said to the team. “Let’s try to get the ball moving with our forwards because their tackles are weak.”

“Steve, Jacob, I want you guys to float with the back line for crashes.”

Steve nodded and drank a gulp of water, “Can do.”

“Other than that, everyone’s doing well. Just keep it up.”

 

“On your left!” Steve called as he approached the ruck. He felt the ball fall right into his open hands and he ran. He ran right at one of the Titans' large forwards and tried to cut to his left at the last moment. He failed and he could feel the strong arms of the opposing forward wrap around his thighs. The impact drove him off his feet and he felt his body slam into the hard ground. His breath left his lungs and he was dazed.

“Steve! Set the ball!” He made out through the crash of bodies above him. He rolled to his side and set the ball between the legs of one of his teammates above him. He tried to squeeze out of the ruck, but someone’s cleated foot landed harshly on his hand.

Pain lanced up his wrist and arm as the cleat ground his hand into the hard pitch. He clenched his teeth as he tried to pull his hand out from underneath the foot. No such luck, his hand was pinned and the rest of his body was stuck in the middle of the ruck.

The ball was cleared by the scrummie, the foot lifted from his hand, and the ruck cleared out quickly as the players chased after the ball. Steve groaned and rolled onto his back and took a few breaths. He heard play going on down on the other side of the twenty two meter line, so he pushed himself using his uninjured hand and jogged down the pitch to join the rest of his team's forwards who were setting up for a scrum.

“Hey, man, you alright?” Willy, the eight-man, asked him as he stopped near the rest of the forwards.

“Yeah,” Steve said, “Just got pinned in that ruck.” Willy nodded, but didn’t seem to buy Steve’s lie.

Steve knelt on the ground, bound onto his lock’s shirt, and jammed his shoulder into the prop’s upper thigh. Their scrummie rolled the ball through the tunnel and Ken kicked the ball to the back of the scrum where Willy secured it. Out of his peripheral vision Steve saw Willy pick the ball up and start running.

Steve peeled away from the scrum and followed his eight-man down the pitch and into the Titan’s defensive line.

“With you, Willy! On your left,” Steve called through his mouth guard. He saw Willy pass the ball flat as he took the hit. Steve grabbed the ball in his hands and felt pain run down his fingers and up his right arm. He transferred the ball so that it was cradled between his left arm and his side and he ran. He dodged past another player and spun out of the weak tackle of the next player. He saw the try line just in front of his so he ran. He felt someone ram into the back of his knees and he fell forward. He quickly raised his arms above his head, clutching the ball in a white knuckled grip, and slammed into the ground face first.

He heard cheering from his teammates, which must have meant he did get the ball across the try line. He lay face down on the ground for a few seconds, catching his breath and trying to detangle his legs from beneath the Titans player that tackled him.

He suddenly felt two pairs of hands grab his own and haul him to his feet. Pain lanced up his arm again as the rough hands tugged and squeezed his right hand. He groaned, but was able to get to his feet. Ken ruffled his hair, “Nice one, Malone!”

Tankai quickly released his grip and looked at Steve’s hand.

“Man, that looks ugly!” Steve looked down and saw his right hand, especially his last two knuckles, was swollen and already starting to turn a dark shade of blue and purple. Steve tried to form a fist, but gave up when pain throbbed up his arm again.

“Got stepped on,” Steve explained, “It’ll be fine.”

“You sure? We can get our trainer to tape it if you need to,” Jacob offered, pointing to the older man sitting on the end of their bench.

“Nah, there’s not much time left,” Steve shrugged.

“If you’re certain. Go see him after the game and he’ll take care of you.”

“Thanks, man,” Steve said as their fullback kicked the ball right over the uprights making it a five point game.

Ryan Zhu carried the ball in for another try with just minutes left in the game and Steve was glad to hear the sir blow the whistle for the end of the game. He had hit has hand multiple times during tackling and it now was really throbbing. Steve made his way back to the bench and sat heavily. He was tired. His muscles ached and he started to feel all the new cuts and bruises that were forming blotches under his skin.

“Hey, it’s Steve right?” The trainer asked him. Steve nodded.

“Steve Malone, nice to meet you…?”

“Ezra. Ezra Locklear. I’m a doctor in the ER, but I volunteer with the local teams on match days,” Ezra said, “Jacob said your hand looked pretty rough.”

“Uh… yeah, someone stepped on it,” Steve said, raising his right hand for the doctor to look at.

Ezra gently turned his hand over a few times and massaged along his knuckles and metacarpals. Steve hissed as the doctor applied pressure along the last two bones.

“Well, I think you could have fractured a bone or two in your hand. The swelling is pretty bad already, so I’m going to immobilize it here and recommend you visit the ER for an X-ray tomorrow once the swelling goes down,” Ezra said and dragged a large bag of medical supplies over.

“Hey, Steve!” Danny called as he jogged across the pitch.

“I’m fine, Danny,” Steve said to his partner before Danny could argue.

“Fine? Jesus, you look awful, buddy!”

“Listen, why don’t you head out. I’m going to be here for a while longer chatting with the guys,” Steve told Danny, hoping he would head over to join Chin and Kono. “I’ll call you if anything changes.”

“Whatever, man,” Danny said. “Just make sure you get that taken care of.”

“Will do, brother, will do.”

Steve sat on the bench and allowed Ezra to wrap and stabilize his hand with ACE bandages. Most of the Raiders came by and chatted with him and introduced him to their partners, friends, and kids. Steve didn’t notice anything ‘off’ about anyone at first glance, but he tried to remember everyone’s names he could so he could look into their backgrounds when he was back at the palace.

Once Ezra was finished he gave Steve instructions on how to care for his hand. Ezra even told him to stop on into the ER at Queens Medical Center tomorrow morning and he would see him with no wait.

Steve thanked him and gathered his belongings, tossing them into his duffel bag and slinging it over his shoulder. He waved goodbye to the remaining players and made his way back to the Silverado.

 

“Hey, Jerry. I have a list of people associated with the club that we should look into. Can you run the names if I forward them to you?” Steve asked on speaker phone as he made his way back to the office.

“Can do, Boss. It might take awhile to get a full report done, but I’ll search for priors and financial troubles,” Jerry said.

“Mahalo, Jerry. I’m going to stop by before heading out to the social,” Steve informed Jerry as he turned down Punchbowl Street which was packed with vehicles.

“Ok, send me that list and I’ll get started on it. See ya’ soon,” Jerry said.

“Yeah, I’ll be there in about ten minutes. I’m going to let you go and send over those names.”

“Cool,” Jerry replied before hanging up.

Stuck in traffic that wasn’t moving, Steve took his phone in his good hand and texted Jerry the list of names he remembered. He tossed his phone onto the Silverado’s passenger seat and sighed. This was not how he imagined the week going.

It took him a good ten minutes to inch down the street, through the weekend crowds, and into the reserved parking lot for employees. He grabbed his phone and his duffle bag from the truck and headed inside.

“Hey, Keoni,” Steve greeted the security guard positioned outside of the entrance of Five-0.

“Ah, Brah, you look rough,” Keoni said, “What happened this time?”

“Oh, this? This is nothing, you should see the other guy,” Steve joked. Keoni laughed and let Steve through.

“I don’t doubt that. Have a good one, yeah?”

“Yeah, you do the same.”

“Hey, Jer, you find anything yet?” Steve said as he found Jerry working on the large PC in the main room.

Jerry looked up from the computer and whistled, “They got you good.”

“Eh, it looks worse than it is.”

“If you say so,” Jerry shrugged, “I haven’t found anything more than a few outdated parking tickets, but I haven’t run the financials yet.”

“Alright, I’m going to get cleaned up and then I’ll be in my office,” Steve told Jerry and headed to the back of headquarters where a small locker room was located. Steve pulled open his locker and took out the first-aid kit he stashed in the bottom of it. He opened it and took out a bottle of tylenol which he opened and dry swallowed a few pills.

He then pulled off his grass stained jersey and shorts, and then he sat down to pull his socks off. As he sat on the bench in his underwear he could clearly see the bruises blooming on his body. The large bruise on his thigh was now the size of softball and turning deep plum. He had scrapes and cuts along his lower legs and arms. A myriad of smaller bruises littered his abdomen, back, and upper arms. A small bruise was spreading along his left jawline from a well placed elbow. Steve sighed and sorted through the first-aid kit for what he needed.  
Steve pulled out the clear plastic bag, unrolled it over his wrapped hand and secured it with a rubber band. He stood up slowly, and hissed as his thigh protested. He grabbed the extra towel he keeps in his locker and headed to the single stall shower in the back of the room.

 

After the shower, Steve felt marginally better as his muscles relaxed in the warmth of the water. He toweled his hair dry and wrapped the towel around his waist before leaving the stall. He grabbed the set of spare clothes he keeps in the locker and dressed as quickly as he could with one good hand. He finally pulled the wired shirt Danny gave him earlier that morning on and made his way out to his own office.

He opened the mini-fridge in the corner of the office and pulled out a bottle of gatorade and a two reusable ice packs. He managed to open the bottle with one hand and takes a few sips before he settles into his plush office chair. He took one ice pack, cracked it, and stuffed it into an empty pocket of his cargo pants that was just above the bruise on his thigh. The other pack he managed to rest on top of his wrapped hand and haphazardly secure with a piece of tape.

Steve sighed and booted up his computer. He tugged open his desk drawer and pulled out a protein bar and the bag of beef jerky he stole from Danny awhile back. He quickly finished off the bar and the few remaining pieces of the jerky.

Steve searched the history of both the Harlequins’ and the Raiders’ teams to see if either team had skeletons hidden in their closets. The search ran up dry after about an hour of searching through the club’s finances, the team’s rosters, and even the sponsors going back a few years. Jerry ended up knocking on his office door just as he was starting a new search on Dr. Ezra Locklear.

“Yeah?” Steve said as he waved Jerry in.

“So, my search revealed some significant deposits from an an offshore account to Dr. Locklear’s accounts. I did some searching and this specific offshore account has been linked to a number of illegal online gambling sites,” Jerry said.

“Ok, so Ezra is involved in an illegal online gambling ring. Do you think our victims found out about it and confronted him?” Steve asked aloud.

“Eh, I, personally, don’t see it. Why would our victims care if Ezra was gambling? It’s not like they were losing their own money… and our two guys never interacted with the doctor that we can see,” Jerry said and sat down on Steve’s couch.

“That doesn’t make any sense to me, either. So either something else is going on, or Ezra’s gambling has nothing to do with our murders.”

“I’ll keep looking. Maybe I’ll be able to track down the website that Dr.Locklear was gambling on and see if that leads us anywhere,” Jerry said, “It will take me at least a few hours because I’m going to have to go through the dark web.”

“Alright,” Steve said, “but, we might have to pull you off that if I find anything out tonight. Kono and Chin are going to be working surveillance and Danny has plans with Amber.”

“Not a problem, Boss. I'll be on call if you need me," Jerry said.

"Mahalo, man," Steve said. "I'll call you if I need you. I've got to be going now. I need to talk with Chin and Kono."

 


	3. Chapter 3: The Backroom

“So, my search revealed some significant deposits from an an offshore account to Dr. Locklear’s accounts. I did some searching and this specific offshore account has been linked to a number of illegal online gambling sites,” Jerry said.

  
“Ok, so Ezra is involved in an illegal online gambling ring. Do you think our victims found out about it and confronted him?” Steve asked aloud.

“Eh, I, personally, don’t see it. Why would our victims care if Ezra was gambling? It’s not like they were losing their own money… and our two guys never interacted with the doctor that we can see,” Jerry said and sat down on Steve’s couch.

“That doesn’t make any sense to me, either. So either something else is going on, or Ezra’s gambling has nothing to do with our murders.”

“I’ll keep looking. Maybe I’ll be able to track down the website that Dr.Locklear was gambling on and see if that leads us anywhere,” Jerry said, “It will take me at least a few hours because I’m going to have to go through the dark web.”

“Alright,” Steve said, “but, we might have to pull you off that if I find anything out tonight. Kono and Chin are going to be working surveillance and Danny has plans with Amber.”

“Not a problem, Boss. I'll be on call if you need me," Jerry said.

"Mahalo, man," Steve said. "I'll call you if I need you. I've got to be going now. I need to talk with Chin and Kono."

Steve parked his truck along the crowded street and walked up to the clubhouse. He could hear loud voices and laughter coming from inside as he stood on the porch and knocked with his left hand. The door opened and Steve grinned at Jacob Tankai who opened it.

“Howzit, Steve?” Tankai asked as he let Steve in.

“Doing good. You?” Steve asked.

“Can’t complain. How’s the hand?” Jacob asked as he handed Steve a beer.

Steve glanced down at his throbbing hand and shrugged, “Ezra thinks I could have a fracture, but he said I should wait to go to the ER until tomorrow when the swelling goes down.”

“Aw, man, that sucks. Listen to Ezra though, he’s a good guy.”

“Will do,” Steve said and took a sip of the cold beer.

“Hey, I’ve got to get back to my girlfriend, but there’s food in the kitchen, beers in the coolers, and I think Ken is around here somewhere. He wanted to talk with you,” Jacob said before joining a petite asian woman on a couch in the front room.

Steve went off to search for the tall blond man. He greeted a few of his teammates as he went before finding Ken talking with Amos and Lee in a corner.

“Hey,” Steve greeted the group.

“Hey, mate,” Ken smiled back at him.

“Jacob said you were looking for me?”

“I was, just wanted to see how your hand was. I have a cousin moving here in a few weeks who was looking for a team to join… and you see, he usually is a flanker,” Ken said, looking sheepish.

“I haven’t had a X-ray yet, but it’s pretty messed up. If your cousin wants to join, let him. I can always move to Hooker when you leave,” Steve joked with Ken. Amos and Lee both laughed as well.

“Great, thanks, mate. So, how was your first game?”

“It was good. It felt great to be back on the field,” Steve said truthfully.

“I think you really surprised us, most guys flake out halfway through the game. Hawaii’s game is much more intense than most of the mainland’s game,” Lee told him.

“I’ll agree to that,” Steve laughed. “I was a little overwhelmed at first, but I got the hang of it soon enough.”

“That’s normal,” Amos said. “When I first joined the league I was astonished with the intensity the guys play with.”

 

Steve quickly made his rounds after his conversation with Ken that went nowhere. About half of the team was missing, but it was apparently normal for the guys who have wives and families to miss. Steve didn’t see anyone entering or leaving the backroom, so he set himself up on a couch that faced the door. He pretended to watch the game on the TV as he kept an eye out for movement. About half an hour later of chatting with teammates and their friends Steve saw their tighthead prop, Michael Kerry, sneak down the hall and into the backroom. Steve took out his phone and texted Chin and Kono about Michael’s movements.

“Excuse me, boys,” Steve said and pushed himself up off of the couch. He made his way back to the room and he quickly opened the door and saw Michael typing on a computer. He abruptly stopped typing, minimized his window, and turned around.

“Oh, sorry, man. I thought this was the bathroom,” Steve said, slurring his words a little bit to make Kerry think he was inebriated. Steve turned out of the doorway, using the doorframe in a fake move to stabilize himself.

“Malone, it’s the door on the left,” Michael said, getting up and pointing down the hall.

“Hey, thanks, dude,” Steve said and went down the hall to the bathroom. He locked the door behind himself and pulled out his phone and dialled Chin’s number.

“Steve, what have you got for us?”

“Well, I found out what was in that back room. It’s a pretty empty room. A computer, a few boxes, some medical supplies, and that’s about it.”

“Great, who was that you were talking with?”

“Ah, that was Michael Kerry, I found him doing something on the computer, but I couldn’t see what exactly. I’m going to stick around and see if I can salvage anything from that computer.”

“Ok, be safe, boss,” Kono told him.

“Always am. See you later,” Steve replied and hung up. Steve flushed the empty toilet and washed his hands.

Steve stuck around for another hour and a half until he saw Michael leave the room and then finally leave the social. Steve took his time to sneak back down the hallway and jiggle the door knob. It was locked, so Steve waited for someone to go into the bathroom, so he could lean on the door to the back room as if he was waiting. He pulled his set of lockpicks out from his back pocket.

Steve quickly inserted one of the picks into the door’s lock and wiggled it around to get the feeling of the lock. He quickly found the proper angle and pressure and he used a second pick to turn the mechanism. It took a few turns until he could manage it one handed, but Steve eventually heard the lock click and he tested the knob. It turned in his left hand and Steve opened the door and snuck inside.  
The lights were off and the computer’s screen was black. Steve clicked the computer on and took out the flashdrive he stored in one of his pockets. He waited until the computer was fully on and he started to transfer the files and web history onto the USB drive. While the computer was working, Steve searched the room for anything else of worth. He found a medical kit full of supplies, a few files that contained insurance information, basic team information, and the league certifications.

After the USB drive collected everything from the computer, Steve unplugged it, turned the computer off, and snuck out of the door back into the hallway. The mainroom was emptier than it was previously and most of the players left were sitting on the couch talking with each other. Steve walked over to the group and stopped.

“Hey, guys, I’m going to get going. I’ll see you guys later, alright?” Steve said.

“Sure man, good luck with the hand,” Jacob said for the group and Steve smiled back.

“Hey, thanks again man. This was just what I needed.”

“No problem. Drive safe.”

“You too, bye,” Steve told the group and left the house. He made it back to his truck and called Jerry.

“Jerry, I was able to copy the computer’s information. Are you still at HQ?”

“Yes, I didn’t get very far into Ezra’s gambling stuff. Why don’t you stop by on your way home and I’ll start sorting through the contents,” Jerry said.

“Will do, Jerry. Why don’t you head home and get some rest. This can wait until morning,” Steve said, feeling the tiredness himself.

“Will do, boss,” Jerry said, “I’m going to head out now then and be here early.”

“Great. I’ll drop by the office around seven tomorrow before I get my hand looked at,” Steve replied.

“See you then, drive safe,” Jerry said.

“You too, buddy. Bye,” Steve said and hung up. He pulled the Silverado out onto the street and headed back to his house. The drive took longer than he anticipated because there was a multi car accident, but he eventually pulled the truck into his dark driveway.

He got out, unlocked his door, and went into his kitchen. He quickly made himself a sandwich and poured himself a glass of water. He also opened one of his cabinets and pulled out a bottle of small white pills. He shook one out into his palm and swallowed it with water. The pills were left over from the last time Danny forced him to go to the hospital. They would take the biting pain away from his hand and let him get a good few hours of sleep.

Once he finished eating his late dinner and cleaning up his dishes, Steve trudged upstairs to his bedroom. He put the flashdrive and his phone in the drawer next to his reserve pistol. He then got ready for bed. Not five minutes after his head hit the pillow he was deeply asleep.

 

His alarm went off just after five in the morning and he groaned as he turned it off. His body ached even more than it did yesterday. The bruises and cuts rubbed on the sheets and caused an uncomfortable sensation as he moved. His hand throbbed with every heartbeat and he could see that the bruising had spread up his wrist slightly.

Steve forced himself to skip his morning run and swim. Instead, he took a quick shower and got changed. He slipped his phone and the drive into his pockets before heading down stairs. He made himself a nice breakfast of fresh fruit and egg whites before leaving.

The drive to HQ was peaceful at this time of day, tourists were not out yet and the few people that were awake this early on a Sunday morning were local swimmers, runners, and surfers. Steve pulled into his spot and turned the truck off. Jerry hadn’t shown up to the office yet, so Steve left the drive on his desk and send Jerry a text message.

To Jerry:  
The drive is on top of my desk in my office. Went to appt. Be back by noon.

 

The ER was pretty quiet as well. A few cases of what looked like food poisoning, a little boy with asthma, and an elderly man with a cut up hand was all that was in the waiting room. True to his word, Ezra saw Steve enter and led him directly back to a room.

“Ah, Steve, I’m going to need you to fill this form out,” Ezra said, holding out a clipboard to him.

“Ummm,” Steve started, holding up his right hand, “Doc, I’m right handed.”

“Oh, right. Well, not to worry. I’m sure you can fill it out later. I’ll just ask you the major questions,” Ezra smiled as he put on gloves.

“Ok,” Steve said and held out his wrapped hand. Ezra cut the tape that was securing the bandages and unwrapped the hand. Steve saw that the entire outer side of his hand, including most of his pinky and ring fingers was bruised and puffy.

“Oh, this isn’t looking so bad. I’ve seen worse,” Ezra reassured him.

“That’s good. I really need it for work,” Steve said, not really lying. Shooting and physical altercations were going to be very difficult if his right hand was in really bad condition.

“Steve, I want you to try to make a fist for me now,” Ezra asked.

Steve tried to curl his fingers against his palm, but he could only manage to bend his pinky and ring finger about halfway before the pain was too much.

“Ok, you can stop. I’m going to gently check the bones in your finger and wrist now. I want you to tell me if anything hurts,” Ezra said. Steve nodded and held his hand out for the doctor ran his hands along the bones in Steve’s arm and wrist. Steve didn’t feel any pain other than when Ezra poked at the bruising along his wrist. However, both of his fingers hurt as Ezra pressed along them.

“Alright, well, let’s get you down to radiology so that we can do an x-ray,” Ezra said and pointed to the wheelchair. Steve frowned but sat in the contraption anyway.

“I know, but it’s hospital policy,” Ezra said, as if reading Steve’s mind.

“Hey, Jackie, can you take Mr. Malone down to radiology?” Ezra asked one of the passing orderlies who nodded.

“Steve, this is Jackie. She is going to take you down to radiology and bring you back once your scans are finished. It should take less than an hour,” Ezra said before taking his phone out of his pocket, “Sorry, I have to take this.”

“No problem, thank you,” Steve told the doctor and let himself be wheeled down to radiology in silence. Jackie wasn’t a very talkative person and Steve got the impression that she was on the last few hours of a very long shift so he didn’t want to annoy her with small talk.

 

“Hello, Michael?” Dr. Ezra Locklear said as he slipped into a supply closet.

“Yeah. Ezra listen, Steve Malone isn’t who you think he is. He’s been snooping around in our files,” Michael Kerry whispered quickly.

“What do you mean?” Ezra sighed and rubbed at his face.

“Listen, the man saw me in the room last night. He said he mistook it for the bathroom, but when I came back this morning the door was unlocked and things were moved around.”

“Ok, ok. We’re in luck. Malone is here at the ER.”

“What, right now?”

“Yes, right now. I sent him down to radiology, but when he comes back up I can drug him and get him out to a car,” Ezra said after thinking for a moment. “Be ready to pick him up in an hour by the side doors in an hour.”

“What are we going to do with him?” Michael hissed through the phone.

“What we did with the others. We can make ourselves some quick cash and get rid of our little problem in one throw.”

“Fine. Meet me at the tunnel at noon.”

“I’ll see you there,” Dr. Locklear promised, “I have to get back to work.”

Once Michael had hung up Ezra shoved his phone back into his pocket and leaned heavily against the concrete wall. Why did things keep getting fucked up? First with those two Harlequins, and now with the new guy. Hopefully this would be the last time…

 

Forty-five minutes later Steve was wheeled back up to the ER by another orderly, Marwin, a middle-aged polynesian man who was very talkative.

“So, what brought you to Hawaii?”

“Uh, I moved here for work a few weeks ago,” Steve lied.

“Man, bad luck.”

“It comes with the game,” Steve shrugged as Marwin rolled him into a room just off the main hall of the ER.

“Thanks, man,” Steve told Marwin and he sat on the bed.

“No problem, I’ll send Dr. Locklear in,” Marwin said and left to flag down the doctor. Steve pulled out his phone and checked his emails. A bunch of spam emails, a reminder of a dental appointment for next week, and a request for Five-0’s monthly expense report. He groaned. He hadn’t even started filling that out because he was swamped with cases and the paperwork associated with those.

Steve heard someone open the backdoor to the room and turned toward the noise. He felt a sharp pinch followed the sensation of a cool liquid being injected into the muscles in his shoulder. Steve struggled to push the hands that had circled his arms and held them close to his sides, but he soon gave into chemical induced haze.

His vision doubled and blurred. His muscles were slow to respond even if they did respond. Steve could feel the drowsiness set in as he sank back against the arms of his attacker.

“Whaaa? What’s goin on?” Steve slurred through a mouth that felt like cotton. He closed his eyes to protect against the dizzying double vision.

“Hush,” Ezra said. “It’ll all be fine soon.” That was true for both of them, just vastly different in meaning. Steve squirmed against Locklear’s grips, but he could feel himself falling down the pitch black tunnel of sleep.

 

Dr. Ezra Locklear tugged the unconscious man from the bed into the wheelchair. His head sagged onto his chest, but the doctor repositioned the man so that he sat upright in the chair and looked almost conscious.

Ezra looked out into the hall and saw that the coast was clear. He quickly pushed the wheelchair down the hall, around a corner, and through the side doors of Queens Medical Center’s ER.

Michael was sitting in a blue van that was parked flush with the curb. He hopped out when he saw Ezra push Steve out of the side doors. The two manhandled Steve into the empty back compartment of the work van. Michael climbed in after Steve and poked his head out of the partially closed back door.

“I’ve got this doc. Get back to work and meet me later.”

“Alright, be careful. He shouldn’t wake up for another hour or two. Keep him restrained, he’s a fighter,” Ezra said wheeling the chair back to the doors.

Michael nodded and closed the back doors. Ezra went back inside, straightened his shirt, and returned the wheelchair to the room. He finished writing Steve’s chart out and went back to the nurse’s station.

“What have we got?”

 

Michael Kerry drove the stolen van from the hospital’s parking lot to the back of an empty parking before shutting the engine off and climbing back to where the unconscious man was laying in an awkward position. He pulled a drawstring bag over to him and dove inside. He pulled out a roll of duct tape and roughly grabbed Steve’s arms to place them next to each other, forearms touching.

He tightly taped the man’s arms and hands together from palm to elbow. He had learnt from the first time when Ioane Kahele was able to slip free of the tape just around his wrists… He did the same with Steve’s feet, ankle to mid-calf was covered in corded duct tape. Finally he put a stip of the tape over the man’s mouth. There was no way anyone could escape from that. Not after he learned from his mistakes.  
He searched Steve’s pockets and was able to pull out his cellphone, wallet, and keys. He tossed them back to the passenger seat. He checked the rest of Steve’s pockets and pulled out a pocket knife which he tossed with the rest of Steve’s belongings. He then went back to the front seat.

Michael took the man’s phone in his hand, popped off the cover with this nail, and took the battery out. He then opened the window, tossed the phone, wallet, and keys into the storm drain next to the van. He pocketed the knife. It was nice, sturdy, and lightweight. It could be useful later on. He turned the van’s engine on and started to drive. The entrance to tunnel was all the down by Hawaii Kai, so he headed out of the parking lot and down the coastline.

 

“This is McGarrett. Talk.” Jerry heard Steve’s voicemail message play.

“Steve, it’s Jerry. Listen to me, you have to leave that hospital! Dr. Locklear isn’t involved in gambling. This is much, much worse!” Jerry said frantically. He called McGarrett again, but the phone went right to voicemail. Jerry swore. He called Danny.

“Hey, Jerry! What’s up?” Danny greeted him.

“Danny, I think Steve’s in trouble…” Jerry replied.

“Wait, what! What do you mean?” Danny asked frantically.

“I was looking into the information Steve was able to recover from that computer … and that suspected gambling site in Dr. Locklear’s isn’t a gambling site at all. It’s… Look, I don’t know how to describe it. It’s dark.” Jerry replied.

“Right, where’s Steve now?” Danny asked.

“He was at Queens… With Locklear. He’s not answering his phone and he was supposed to be back by now.”

“Ok. Call Queens and see if he is still there. I’ll be right in after I call Chin and Kono.”

“Alright. I’ll see if I can track his phone or truck,” Jerry said.

“Great, thanks, Jer. I’ll be at headquarters soon. Call me if you find anything.”  
Jerry hung up the phone and called Queens ER.

 


	4. Chapter 4: The Video

“Hey, Jerry! What’s up?” Danny greeted him.

  
“Danny, I think Steve’s in trouble…” Jerry replied.

“Wait, what! What do you mean?” Danny asked frantically.

“I was looking into the information Steve was able to recover from that computer … and that suspected gambling site in Dr. Locklear’s isn’t a gambling site at all. It’s… Look, I don’t know how to describe it. It’s dark.” Jerry replied.

“Right, where’s Steve now?” Danny asked.

“He was at Queens… With Locklear. He’s not answering his phone and he was supposed to be back by now.”

“Ok. Call Queens and see if he is still there. I’ll be right in after I call Chin and Kono.”

“Alright. I’ll see if I can track his phone or truck,” Jerry said.

“Great, thanks, Jer. I’ll be at headquarters soon. Call me if you find anything.”

Jerry hung up the phone and called Queens ER.

“Queens Medical Center Emergency Department. Nurse Khalil speaking, how can I help you?” A woman’s voice answered.

“Uh, yeah, hi. This is Special Consultant Jerry Ortega with Five-0. I need to know you still have a patient by the name Steve Malone?” Jerry asked.

“Just a minute, let me check,” the nurse said. Jerry stayed on hold for a good five minutes until the nurse picked the phone up again. “Mr. Ortega?”

“Uh, yes. Still here,” Jerry spluttered.

“Mr. Malone was discharged two hours ago.”

“Can you tell me who discharged him?” Jerry asked.

“Dr. Locklear signed off on the paperwork,” the nurse said. Jerry swore quietly.

“Ok, thank you.”

“Is that all?” the nurse asked.

“Yes, that’s all, thanks for your time.”

“Anytime.” Jerry hung up and started typing quickly, trying to find the last locations where Steve’s phone pinged. Jerry had the phone tracked from the hospital to a parking lot about a mile away from the hospital. That was the last place his phone connected with the network. The GPS tracker in the Silverado had it parked in the lot outside of the hospital.

Jerry called HPD and had them sweep the parking lot. Steve’s phone and personal belongings were found in the storm sewer. Phone battery removed. Wallet intact. This wasn’t a robbery. This was an abduction.

 

“Jer, what have you got?” Chin said, strolling into the office with Kono and Danny behind him.

“I called Queens. They said Steve was discharged about two hours ago. His truck is still there, but his phone’s last location was an empty shopping mall’s parking lot about a mile from Queens. HPD recovered his phone, wallet, and keys from a storm sewer. The phone’s battery was removed, but everything else was intact. Cash and cards still there....”

“Shit!” Danny swore. “So what are we thinking?”

“Well, Locklear hasn’t left work since he started his shift early this morning.”

“So, either he didn’t have anything to do with Steve’s disappearance or he has a partner,” Kono said.

“Didn’t Steve say Michael... um… Michael Kerry was on that computer last night?”

“He did. About that… I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this before,” Jerry said and pulled the website up on the large screens.

“What is this?” Kono asked, looking at the pictures along the side of the page and auctions going.

“I’m not sure… I was able to pull it off the info Steve got from that computer. It looks like some sort of human auction. But then I found this..” Jerry explained and showed another page of the dark website. It was a spreadsheet with pictures of people, ID numbers, and scores. These scores included how long a ‘subject’ could withstand being without oxygen, how long it took ‘subjects’ to die after dehydration, how a ‘subject’ reacted to drugs and chemicals.

“What the fuck is this?” Danny said as Jerry scrolled down the webpage.

“From what I can see, these are illegal, unethical human experiments. People post auctions for experiments they want done and users give a proposal including cost for services rendered. Each ‘experiment’ was uploaded onto the dark web in the last two years. It looks like we have dozens of posts, each with anywhere from four to fifteen subjects,” Jerry replied.

“How hasn’t this been seen before?” Chin asked. “It’s clearly been around for a while.”

“It’s on the dark web. The dark web protects identities and locations of user so that they stay anonymous by having a layered encryption system.” Jerry explained. “Because of this, websites are untrackable, as are the geolocation and IPs of the users. This makes the dark web a haven for users involved in drugs, fraud, hacking, pornography, abuse, terrorist chat rooms, weapons trades, et cetera.”

“Wait, so you’re saying that we have no way of tracking any of the users on this webpage and that there could be hundreds just like it out there?” Kono asked.

“Unfortunately, yes. However, we can monitor the site right now. Maybe if we can identify any of our ‘subjects’ we can track down some suspects,” Jerry said.

“Ok. So, Michael and Locklear were involved in these human experiments. It explains the money transfers to Locklear’s accounts. It also explains why our victims were killed for seeing whatever was on that computer,” Chin said.

“Right, so these psychopaths could have Steve and we have no way of finding them?” Danny asked.

“Not necessarily. Now that we know Locklear and Kerry are partners, we just have to crack one to get to the other,” Kono said coldly.

“Alright, Kono and I will head to Queens medical center. Jerry, Chin, can you start running facial rec on the victims?” Danny said.

“Will do,” Chin replied.

 

Danny sped down the highway to the hospital. The average ten minute drive took Danny four. He parked the Camaro illegally along the main entrance to the ER and walked out. He and Kono walked directly up to the nurse’s station, badges out.

“Hey, we need to see Dr. Locklear. Now.” Danny ordered the poor nurse.

“I… I’m sorry. Dr. Locklear’s shift ended half an hour ago,” the nurse stuttered. Danny swore and turned back to the nurse.

“Did he say where he was going?”

“No, I’m sorry. He keeps to himself.”

 

As Danny and Kono were walking out of the ER, Kono pointed out the CCTV cameras mounted along the ceiling. They made their way down to the security office of the hospital. A security guard opened the door when Danny knocked.

“Hi, I’m Detective Williams and this is Detective Kono Kalakaua. We need to see your recordings from the ER from about eight to ten this morning.”

“Yeah, sure. Just a minute,” The security guy said and searched through some files. “Here we are. The waiting room is top right. Hallway 1 and 2 are on the bottom. The side entrance is top left.” The guy pointed out to them as the videos started.

“Look, there’s Steve,” Kono said, pointing to the waiting room. They watched Steve greet Locklear and be brought back to a room off Hallway 1. They sped through the next twenty or so minutes as both Steve and Locklear were in the room where no cameras were mounted. They watched Steve be escorted down to radiology followed by Locklear sneaking into the supply closet on a call.

“So, Locklear went into that closet looking calm and normal and he came out nervous and agitated,” Kono said. “Jerry just texted me to say that Michael called Locklear. The time for that call lines up with our video time stamp.”

“Alright, Michael calls Locklear and knows Steve figured something out at the social,” Danny said and starts to play the video again. They fast forward until Steve is wheeled back into the treatment room where Locklear was. Five minutes later they see Locklear push a seemingly unconscious McGarrett from the room and down the hall.

The pair left the hospital through the side door where an unmarked blue van with muddied plates was waiting. They see Locklear and Kerry carry Steve into the back. Kerry drives off and Locklear goes back inside and goes back to work.

“Shit, so we have Locklear sedating Steve... and Kerry abducting him. Call Chin and HPD. See if they can track that van. If not, put a BOLO on it,” Danny said, running his hands through his hair. He sighed and leaned against the wall.

“Danny, he’ll be okay. It’s Steve! The man survived much worse,” Kono reassured him. “Let’s head back to HQ and try to find out where they’re taking Steve.”

 

Steve woke up to a multitude of unpleasant sensations. His hand throbbed badly. His head throbbed. His mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton. He was nauseous. He shoulders and elbows ached from being in such an unnatural position.

Steve tested his bonds carefully. His ankles were taped securely. His arms too. He was able to lick his lips and loosen the adhesive on the tape over his mouth a little bit. He groaned. He was screwed. The room he was in was pitch black. His eyes didn’t even adjust because there was none. He couldn’t see any sharp objects to tear his the tape. He couldn’t see anything.

 

“We have HPD searching for that van, but we lost visual on it after it turned off hospital grounds. We can assume Michael Kerry was heading somewhere east based on the location where he dumped Steve’s phone and belongings,” Kono said pointing to the locations on the map.

“So, we’re looking at a possible location somewhere in here,” Chin said circling Waikiki, Waialae Kahala, Hawaii Kai, Manoa, Palolo, Kalani Iki. Danny sighed.

“That’s a huge part of the island. They could be anywhere.”

“Well, based on the particles found on Kahele’s body, we have to look for industrial areas,” Kono pointed out. “These are all the sites that would match those specific particles.”

There were about forty or so sites lit up on the map scattered over south-east Oahu.

 

Steve jerked as a portable LED light lit up the dark room. He forced himself to adjust to the light even though his headache protested. He realized he wasn’t in a room at all. He was actually in what looked like a lava tube. The rounded walls and ceilings were rough and pock marked, but he could see man-made holes and fastenings from things that had been drilled into the walls.

Steve flipped his head to the other side and saw exactly what was going on. Michael Kerry squatting near the light and shuffling through a rusty toolbox. Steve groaned and pushed himself into a sitting position against the cool rock walls.

“Ah, nice to see you’re awake Steve,” Michael said. “You woke up much faster than the others. I’m impressed.”

Steve glared back at the rugby player.

“You know, I really hated this the first time… but, I think it’s growing on me,” he said as he approached Steve. He crouched down in front of Steve and roughly pulled the tape away from the SEALs face. Steve winced as the tape caught on the couple days of facial hair.

“What do you want from me?” He asked Michael, his voice horse and his mouth feeling dry and cottony.

“Well, you see. You saw a little something that you shouldn’t have, didn’t you?” Michael jeered.

“I don’t know what you’re talkin’ about, man,” Steve lied. This was followed by a quick, jarring right cross from Michael. Steve felt his head slam into the wall behind him and black dots circled in his vision.

“DON’T LIE TO ME!” Michael raged. “I’ve known you were a pig since the day you joined us!”

“Wha? What is going on, Mike?” Steve asked, acting confused. He weighed his odds. He was better off staying Steve Malone, a haole from the mainland, than being Steve McGarrett, head of the Five-0 Task Force.

Unfortunately, Michael Kerry called his lie. Steve felt fists and feet land along his body in harsh, breaking blows. All he could do was raise his bound hands in front of his face, fall onto his side and protect his chest and abdomen with his knees.

Steve could feel a rib crack as Michael landed a particularly harsh kick to his side. He was momentarily stunned by the white hot pain that lanced across his chest. He let out a startled cry followed by a few hissing breaths to manage the agony.

The beating stopped after what felt like minutes, but was really only about thirty seconds. Steve felt his left eye swelling closed as warm, sticky blood from a cut below his eyebrow ran down his face. He felt his rib send out torpedoes of agony with every breath. He could feel his muscles relaxing and alerting him of new bruises and contusions with every second.

He let out an involuntary moan as Kerry grabbed his hands and dragged him across the lava tube toward the tool box. Pain in his hand again. Pain in his face. Pain along his back, up his arms, and down his legs. Pain when he breathed. Pain when he moved. But Steve was lucky… At least pain wasn’t anything new to him.

“Now, Steve. I know who you are. The first time I met you, I knew you looked familiar. I just couldn’t remember from where” Michael said as he pulled out a tripod from the duffel. “But, when your ‘drunken escapade’ into the room at the clubhouse happened I remembered exactly who you were.”

He paused as he set up a camera. He fiddled with the camera’s angle and height before nodding and turning it on. The little red light indicated that he was now being recorded.

“Commander Steven J. McGarrett, Navy SEAL, Head of the Five-0 Task Force, and former fugitive.”

Steve glared up at Michael and spat a mouthful of bloody spit onto the ground.

“You see, I have a thing for faces, even though that was, what? Three years ago?” Michael asked. “Now, I know our viewers would love to see our newest experiment… especially with such an important person like yourself. I also know that you might just be the most resilient to what is about to happen.”

“Fuck you!” Steve hissed and lifted his chin defiantly.

“Just you wait, McGarrett,” Michael laughed. “Let’s wait for our good doctor to get started.”

The last thing Steve saw was a speeding, grey object aimed right for his temple. His vision went white and then completely black.

 

Danny sat with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. Their search of streets going in and out of the possible sites came up empty. HPD was canvasing the general area and looking for Locklear, Kerry, or their vehicles. The sun was rising through the windows of the palace, signifying that Steve had been missing for almost an entire day.

“Danny, come on out here. Jerry has an idea,” Chin said as he opened Danny’s office door.

“Yeah, just a minute,” Danny sighed. How his partner got into this much trouble all the time, he would never know. Neanderthal. Danny got up, grabbed his phone, and went out to the lobby.

“Jer, what do you have for us?” Danny asked, noting the tiredness of all the members of Five-0. Steve had been taken eighteen hours ago and no new clues had come out about any of the cases.

“So, I called a friend who dabbles in the dark web,” Jerry said, waiting to be admonished, “Just for whistleblowers and stuff…”

“Jerry! We don’t care what this guy was doing. How can he help us?” Danny cut Jerry off.

“Right… Well he says that the government plants malware into some sights, especially those associated with child pornography, human trafficking, and the really dark stuff. He said if we could implant this malware onto the site. If Locklear or Kerry click on it, we can trace their real IP addresses.”

“That’s great, Jer!” Kono said, “Do you know where we can get our hands on the malware?”

“No, that’s the problem. I have no idea where to get it. It’s only available to the CIA and those agencies,” Jerry told the team. Chin sighed and Kono looked downtrodden.

“Guys, just give me a few minutes to make a call. I might know someone,” Danny said before going back to his office. HPD had returned Steve’s phone, wallet, and keys after the lab collected any useful evidence. Danny had placed them in his office drawer so that he could return them to his best friend when they brought him home. Danny grabbed his phone, turned it on, and scrolled through the contacts. He clicked the call button when he found the person he hoped would pick up.

 

Steve woke up slowly. He could hear the mutters of talking echoing off the curved walls of the lava tube. Steve took the time to himself to take stock of his situation. He was no longer bound with duct tape like he was. His legs were now separate and restrained to what felt like the legs of a chair when he tested his bonds. His arms were restrained behind him with what felt like rough corded rope.

His body was firing signals of pain almost constantly. His hand throbbed in time with his heartbeat. His shoulders protested against the pull of the restraints as they were stretched at an unnatural angle. His head ached fiercely. His left eye was swollen almost completely closed and blood had dried over his eyelashes. His jaw was sore. Breathing hurt and his bruised, and probably cracked, ribs made their displeasure with his new position well known.

Steve tried to focus on the voices, but the echoes made the words jumbled and difficult to distinguish.

Steve sat there for minutes assessing his location. Michael had been smart. Steve couldn’t see any loose items that he could use for weapons. The camera’s tripod was set up about fifteen feet in front of him. The toolbox was gone, or at least in the dark parts of the lava tube that were not lit by the LED light. His bonds were tight. He hadn’t been able to loosen them or wiggle free. This case went truly FUBAR… and he was fucked if he couldn’t think up a solution quickly.

Steve looked up when he heard echoing footsteps of at least two people approaching him. Squinting through his right eye, Steve made out the figure of Michael Kerry and Dr. Ezra Locklear.

“So, Mr. Malone… or should I say Mr. McGarrett. It’s a shame we have to be in this situation,” Ezra said.

“It’s Lieutenant Commander,” Steve corrected the doctor.

“Yes, well, you’re going to raise a pretty penny for me. Most of my participants are homeless or vagrants. People who won’t be missed, but they don’t last long. But you?” Ezra whistled, “You look like you take care of yourself. Eat well, work out, sleep enough…”  
Steve glared defiantly back at the older doctor.

“You see, when Kahele and Barna found Michael with our experiments we had to eliminate them. Why not profit from it?”

“You murdered two innocent men,” Steve spat. “Men who trusted you, no doubt.”

“I feel bad that it came down to murder, but they would’ve talked,” Ezra shrugged. “Now, we’re wasting time.” Ezra clapped his hands once and Michael brought the toolbox forward. Ezra stepped behind the camera and turned it on. The red light blinked at Steve, as if mocking him as it recorded him.

“Look, I don’t like to witness this part. So if you’ll excuse me,” Ezra said. “Michael, call me when you need me.” Michael nodded and Ezra walked back into the shadows and down the lava tube.

 


	5. Chapter 5: The Search

“You murdered two innocent men,” Steve spat. “Men who trusted you, no doubt.”

 

“I feel bad that it came down to murder, but they would’ve talked,” Ezra shrugged. “Now, we’re wasting time.” Ezra clapped his hands once and Michael brought the toolbox forward. Ezra stepped behind the camera and turned it on. The red light blinked at Steve, as if mocking him as it recorded him.

“Look, I don’t like to witness this part. So if you’ll excuse me,” Ezra said. “Michael, call me when you need me.” Michael nodded and Ezra walked back into the shadows and down the lava tube.

 

“Hello? Steve?” Catherine’s voice flowed from Steve’s phone. Danny took a deep breath and sighed.

“Catherine, it’s Danny,” He said not knowing how Catherine would react.

“Danny?” Catherine asked, a slight bit of panic leaking through her voice. “Where’s Steve?”

“The idiot got himself kidnapped again,” Danny told her his voice breaking slightly at having to vocalize his best friend’s predicament.

“What?! Danny, is he okay? Please, Danny!” Catherine pleaded for answers. Pleaded for Steve to be alright.

“I… We don’t know. We can’t find him and… and the last two people who were t-taken ended up dead,” Danny stuttered his way through.

“Oh, God! How long has he been gone, Danny? What do you need?”

“About nineteen hours. We, uh… we were able to trace the other two victims back to a human trafficking and experimentation site on the dark web. We think we can find Steve if we can track the IP addresses,” Danny told her trying to keep it together.

“Ok, Danny, what do you need?” Catherine asked again.

“We need malware in order to track the IP addresses,” Danny said bluntly.

“They’re classified, but I’ll make some calls. You should have it in twenty minutes.”

“Thanks, Cath.” Danny sighed in relief.

“Uh-huh. Danny?” Catherine asked, “Can you uh, can you call me when you find him?”

“Sure, Cath.”

“I’ve got to go. Look out for an email soon,” Catherine told him. “Danny, take care of him?”

“Always.” Danny ground out, tears blurring his vision. “Always.”

Danny ended the call and wiped his eyes with his palm. He took a series of calming breaths, slipped Steve’s phone into his pocket where it knocked against his own, and left his office.

“Catherine is going to have a friend send us a copy of the malware we need. She said it should be here in less than twenty minutes,” Danny said. Kono and Chin sighed in relief and Jerry took a deep breath.

“You called Catherine? Steve’s Catherine?” Chin asked.

“Yeah, I thought if anyone could help us it would be her.”

“True, but Steve’s going to be pissed when he finds out,” Kono pointed out to Danny.

“I’d rather deal with a pissed off Super-SEAL than a… a” Danny stuttered. He couldn’t say it. He couldn’t say dead. He wouldn’t. Chin patted him on his back.

“We’ll find him, Danny. We always do,” Chin reassured him and squeezed his arm.

 

Steve couldn’t tell how long he had been sitting there. He couldn’t tell how long he had been going in and out of unconscious. He couldn’t tell how long Michael had been methodically torturing him. When Michael got tired of hitting Steve with his bare hands he changed to waterboarding Steve. Between the pain from the beating, the agony from coughing up the water, and terror from pseudo drowning Steve was exhausted. He let his eyes slip closed.

“Ah, ah, ah Commander,” Michael said and grasped Steve’s jaw in his hand. “The other’s hadn’t even made it to this stage before they told us.”

Steve shook his head in an attempt to loosen Michael’s bruising grip on his battered face. Michael held on tighter and prised Steve’s mouth open and jammed a bottle into his mouth.

Steve could taste a bitter, oily liquid flooded his mouth. He gagged and choked as Michael forced him to swallow mouthfuls of the foul liquid.

“Now, that wasn’t so bad? Was it?” Michael asked him, smirking as he removed the bottle and recapped it.

Steve coughed and gagged in his chair and slumped forward. He regulated his breathing and focused on expelling the unknown liquid. He soon found his mouth filling with sickly slavia. His gut retched once with no results. He retched again and felt the awful sensation of the liquid and bile from his stomach making its way back up his esophagus. He retched a third time and the contents of his stomach, including a sickly yellow oil made a reappearance all over his groin and thighs.

He spat the taste out of his mouth and used what strength he had left to pull himself upright in the chair.

“Now, McGarrett, let me ask you again. What is the one thing you would never tell anyone else?” Michael asked, ignoring the vomit. “You tell us and this all stops.”

“Fuck you.” Steve spat at Michael.

“Feisty. After all of this? Sit tight, you’re in for a rough time,” Michael grinned at him maniacally before heading back into the shadows of the lava tube and leaving Steve alone, waterlogged, covered in vomit, bloody, bruised, and exhausted.

 

“Danny!” Jerry called. “We’re going to upload our bait.”

Danny had been working on tracking down any other agencies who were investigating the murders and missing persons that were found on the website. He hadn’t gotten far because he ended up falling asleep in his office chair.

Their plan was to stroke Locklear’s and Kerry’s egos by posting as an admirer of their ‘work’. Their post would lure the two in by pretending to be a suspected ‘sponsor’ of their next experiment. Chin and Kono carefully phrased the post and imbedded the malware that Catherine’s friend from the State Department had sent over.

“Jerry, do it,” Danny said and watched as Jerry posted the text to the website and they waited.

“How long will it take for us to find our guys?” Kono asked.

“I don’t know. If Locklear or Kerry open it, we can dispatch HPD and be there in twenty minutes,” Chin said. “We are going to collect all the IP addresses of visitors who click on the post and share the addresses with their local authorities.”

“Good,” Danny said and sank into one of the charis in the main room. Kono joined him as they waited. Danny fidgeted with his fingers and Kono started to desemble, clean, and reassemble her pistol.

 

Steve’s fitful nap was ended abruptly when his insides seized. Cramps gripped his stomach and intestines. Steve groaned and tried to shift into a better position in order to relieve some of the pressure in his abdomen. His injuries protested and the pressure didn’t let up. Steve knew what was coming. His cheeks colored and he hung his head.

He supposed this was better than being beaten again. Or burnt. Or sliced. Or waterboarded. Or knocked out again. It was just so humiliating. So belittling. He also knew that this wasn’t going to help his growing dehydration.

Steve could feel his body betraying him. He turned his head and felt tears of embarrassment sting in his eyes. He wouldn’t let the people on the other end of the camera be privy to this. He tried. He really, really tried to keep control of his body. To ignore the cramps. To ignore the bloating. To ignore the pleading signals his body was sending him.

Five minutes later, Steve’s body’s urges won. He lowered his head and sobbed as his bowels involuntarily emptied. The cramps didn’t abate though. If anything they got worse. The demon’s grip on his intestines intensified with every passing minute.

All Steve wanted was to curl up in a ball on the floor to try to relieve the pressure and bloating. The closest thing he was able to achieve to that, was slumping forward against his bonds. His chest and ribs protested the movement. His shoulders flared with new pain. His hands and wrists ached. Steve traded one relief for another. One pain for another. He groaned and sobbed as a new round of spasms hit his colon.

Steve could hear Michael Kerry returning. He saw the man enter the light and screw up his face is disgust.

“McGarrett, fuck,” he exclaimed as he took a step closer, “You reek!”

Steve avoided eye contact and ignored the man.

“But, I guess vomit, sweat, and shit will create a pretty bad stench.”

Anger rippled through Steve as he fought to ignore Michael.

“Are you ready to talk now?” Michael asked. Steve ignored him. He wouldn’t give into what they want. If he gave in he was dead.

“Go to hell,” Steve muttered.

“As you wish, Commander,” Michael said. The man turned on an old generator and connected it to another set of lights that blinded Steve at first. Michael then approached Steve slowly.

Steve counted the hits he took at first, but he soon lost count. Michael had avoided his head this time and aimed for his chest and abdomen. Steve’s fight for control over his digestive tract failed. He didn’t even care as the pain from each hit radiated across Steve’s body. He lost track of time and faded into a merciful darkness.

 

“Danny, we have a hit! It looks like the triangulated address is coming from an abandoned construction project in Hawaii Kai,” Chin said as he pulled on his tactical vest. Danny and Kono pulled their vests on and holstered their weapons. The sun was bright in the sky and the island was bustling with early afternoon activity. Steve had been missing since Sunday morning. It was now Tuesday afternoon.

“Jerry, call HPD and have them set up a perimeter around that house,” Danny ordered. “Have SWAT and EMS on standby.”

“Already done. Bring him home, guys.”

Danny sped down the Kalaniana'ole highway with his lights and sirens blaring. He weaved between traffic and sped through lights. He reached the address Jerry sent to the Camaro’s GPS in record time. Danny threw the car into park, made sure Chin and Kono were following him, and stalked up the overgrown path to the half-constructed home.

The three cleared the structure with the help of HPD. They found the discarded van in the backyard along the tree line. They didn’t find Steve or either suspect.

“Jerry,” Danny spoke into his phone, “They’re not here. Are they still online?”

“Shit!” Jerry exclaimed. “Uh, yeah, they’re still online. Same location.”

“Damn, alright. Everyone spread out! Look in the forest!” Danny called. He heard he chime for incoming call and hit answer before looking at the caller ID, hoping it would be Steve’s voice on the line.

“Daniel? I need you to sign Grace’s field trip form to the lava tubes and turn it in. She forgot it at your place,” Rachel, his ex, said over the line.

“Rache, now’s not the time. I’ll call you back later,” Danny said quickly and hung up. He placed his phone back in his pocket and went into the forest, gun drawn. He thought back to the other bodies. All those minerals. The dust. The sulfur and silica.

“Shit!” He exclaimed and turned to find Chin. “Chin!”

“Danny?! Danny?” Chin called as he ran towards Danny. “What?”

“Chin, are there lava tubes here?!” Danny asked frantically.

“Maybe some small ones. The main one is by the Lanai lookout,” Chin said, “Why?”

“The clothes! Kahele’s clothes were covered in minerals! Sulfur. Silica. All kinds of stuff found in lava tubes around here! Grace’s been talking about them for her field trip!”

It dawned on Chin and he called into his com-set. “Guys, look for the entrances to caves, lava tubes, or underground tunnels!”

 

“Chin, Danny!” Kono’s voice called. “Over here!” The two of them ran full speed into the trees to find Kono crouched down next to a metal sheet covering the entrance to what looked like a deep cave or well. Kono and Chin lifted and moved the metal off from the hole in the ground.

The opening was about a yard in diameter and roughly dug into the clay-like ground. Kono shone her flashlight down the hole and saw that the drop wasn’t all that far; less than ten feet deep with slanted walls.

“Chin stay here and wait for HPD,” Danny said to his teammate. He velcroed his flashlight to the shoulder of his tactical vest and holstered is gun before climbing and sliding down the entrance. Danny made sure the bottom of the entrance was clear and helped Kono down.

“It looks like footprints are heading south,” Kono pointed out. Danny and Kono walked cautiously down the uneven ground following the footprints.

 

“Steve?” He heard a childlike voice ask, “Stevie?” It pestered again. He felt someone poking his bicep with a small, pointy finger. Steve groaned and cracked an eye to see a pair of bright green eyes staring into his own.

“Steeevie, wake up!” The small girl said poking at him again. Steve stared at the small girl who was no older than eight or nine. Wet, blonde hair framed her cherub-like face.

“Mary?” Steve asked as he sat up. He looked around. He was laying on a beach towel in his backyard. He could hear the waves crashing on the beach and birds chirping in the citrus trees his mother had planted when he was younger.

“Mom says you shouldn’t nap out here,” his sister nagged him. Steve stared at her. He had forgotten how young and innocent she was.

“Go away, Mary,” Steve grumbled and turned around to lay on his stomach, forehead resting on his forearms.

“Steve, you’re going to burn,” Mary argued.

“Mary,” Steve warned his little sister. “Go inside.”

“Fine, but don’t blame me when your skin peels,” Mary pestered. Steve ignored her and let himself dose in the sun. Minutes later he heard the tell tale sign of his sister splashing into the waves.

“Mary! Get out of the water!” He called, not looking up from the towel. “You know you aren’t allowed to swim alone!”  
Steve didn’t hear his little sister’s reply so he forced himself up and looked out at the Pacific Ocean. He didn’t see her. He scanned the waves looking for his sister’s blonde hair darting in and out of the waves. Nothing. He scanned the beach and the rest of their yard, hoping to see her. Nothing. His heart pumped quickly with fear.

“Mary!” He called as he ran up to the shoreline. Searching the waves for any sign of his little sister, he dove into the surf. He swam into the waves and spotted a flash of color down twenty feet into the surf when Steve knew a riptide pulled water back into the Pacific.

“Mary!” Steve sputtered, “Get out of the rip!” He swam in powerful strokes, fear and adrenaline fueling his body to cut through the water. He swam and looked out for another flash of color or splashing of Mary. Nothing. He reached the area where he last saw anything and he only saw water. Terror gripped his mind.

“Mary!” He yelled panicked. “MARY?!” No response. Steve swam further out into the Pacific, allowing the rip to pull him deeper. “MARY ANN?!”

“Please!” He bellowed to anyone who could hear him. “MARY?”

He coughed as a wave crashed over his head as he bellowed. Tiring out he followed the riptide out, hoping to find his sister in its grips. He turned toward shore and saw that he was much further out than he expected. His arms were tired. Waves were picking up and the riptide was tugging him farther and farther into the Pacific Ocean. He didn’t care. He had to find his sister.  
Steve swam and searched. Swam, searched, called out. Dove to look under the waves. Sputtered through the salty water. Panicked he could feel the undercurrents tugging at his wet jeans.

He fought the riptide, he fought the undercurrent and tried to propel himself parallel to shore. His arms screamed for rest. His legs were cramping. His lungs protested for more air. His mind screamed for his sister. He knew she was gone. He knew he couldn’t do anything even if he found her now. It had been a dozen long minutes since he had seen anything in the surf.

Dread took over as he realized the hopelessness of it all. He stopped fighting the currents and let the cool water envelop him.

 

“Fuck!” Danny swore and ran his hand through his hair roughly. Danny and Kono had ran into their third deadend.

“Danny, it’s ok. We’ll just go back to that last intersection and take the other tunnel,” Kono tried to reassure her friend. The two cops backtracked and turned into the new tunnel that sloped down into the ground.

“Chin, we’re heading west. The last tunnel was a dead end. How long until we can get heat signatures up?” Kono asked over their com link.

“They said they’re five minutes out,” Chin replied. “I’ve sent some HPD officers down to back you up.”

“Thanks, cuz,” Kono said as she shone her light down the lavatube where it was widening. Suddenly she heard something. Echoing along the walls. Conversation. She quickly signalled to Danny.

Both detectives walked quietly down the uneven, narrow, and low ceilinged tunnel carved into the foundation of the island by ancient lava flows. Danny could see light refracting off the walls ahead of them and he slowed their walk so that they could assess their surroundings.

Danny saw the tunnel split in two. Danny could hear the voices coming from the path on the right and the light was growing brighter in that tunnel. The other tunnel was dark, narrower, and quiet. The pair entered the tunnel, Danny in front and Kono in back.

“Ezra, give me a few more hours,” Danny heard as the tunnel widened into an almost cave like room. He crouched behind a jut in the rough tunnel wall and listened.

“No, but we knew that.”

“Tell them they’ll get it!” Danny heard a deep voice yell followed by the crack of something plastic hitting the hard walls.

Danny signalled to Kono to move on his direction. She nodded and palmed her gun. Danny burst into the room with his gun drawn. He could see the surprise on Michael Kerry’s face.

“On your knees! Hands up!” He commanded. Michael Kerry hesitated. Danny could see it in his eyes. He hoped Kerry would do it so that he had an excuse to shoot the man.

“Now!” Kono demanded from a few feet to Danny’s left.

Danny saw Michael reach to his left and he pulled the trigger. His bullet sailed through the stale and planted itself in Kerry’s left shoulder. The man fell to the ground and Danny rushed forward.

“Where is he?” Danny yelled at Kerry. Kerry made no response other than to gasp in pain as Danny hooked his thumb into the bullet’s entrance wound.

“WHERE IS HE YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” Danny yelled as slammed Michael against the ground.

“Danny,” Kono said softly.

“No, Kono!” Danny cried out and bashed the limp body against the rough ground.

“Where’s Steve,” He hissed.

“Danny! Stop it!” Kono chastised. Danny turned and gave her a frigid glare.

“At least act like you care, Kono.” Danny seethed.

“I care! I care so much, Danny!” Kono yelled. “But… just look at him.”

Danny looked down into the open brown eyes. The unmoving face. The mouth frozen in pain. Michael Kerry was dead. Danny released the man who fell harshly back to the ground.

“Damn it!” Danny swore and wiped his bloody hands on his dark pants.

“Chin, Michael Kerry’s dead. Locklear isn’t here,” Danny composed himself to relay the situation with Chin.

“And Steve?”

Danny sighed, “He’s not here.”

Silence on the other end.

“Kono and I are going to check the the other tunnel,” Danny said and stood up.

The other tunnel was dark, but Kono stopped him a few yards in from the split.

“Danny, do you hear that?” Kono asked. Danny listened intently. A mechanical buzz was echoing softly off of the walls.

“Yeah,” Danny said and sped toward the noise. He saw lights blooming behind a stained piece of particle board that was blocking the tunnel. He motioned to Kono that he would shift the wood so she could clear the tunnel behind it.

Danny counted down from three with his fingers.

3...He holstered his gun….

2...He grasped the rough edges of the wood.

1... He took a deep breath and tore the wood away.

Kono strode through the now clear entrance and gasped. Steve.

 


	6. Chapter 6: Extraction

“Danny, do you hear that?” Kono asked. Danny listened intently. A mechanical buzz was echoing softly off of the walls.

  
“Yeah,” Danny said and sped toward the noise. He saw lights blooming behind a stained piece of particle board that was blocking the tunnel. He motioned to Kono that he would shift the wood so she could clear the tunnel behind it.

Danny counted down from three with his fingers.

3...He holstered his gun….

2...He grasped the rough edges of the wood.

1... He took a deep breath and tore the wood away.

Kono strode through the now clear entrance and gasped. Steve.

 

He was tied to a metal framed chair with thick corded ropes. His head hung down, chin almost resting on his bare chest. His skin was covered in bruises, blood, grime and sweat. Danny could smell the telltale signs that Steve had been sick.

“Steve!” The pair rushed forward and Danny pressed two fingers against his partner’s limp neck.

“He’s alive,” Danny broadcasted to Chin.

Danny sighed and took Steve’s battered face gently in his hands. He could feel shallow breaths tickling his wrists and he gently let Steve’s head rest on his chest again when he realized his partner wasn’t going to wake up anytime soon.

He made is way behind the chair and crouched down to where Steve’s hands were bound in rope. Danny frowned at the state of Steve’s mangled hand and raw wrists.

“Kono, give me your knife,” Danny said numbly and holding his hand out, palm up. He heard the scream of hardened metal leaving a sheath and felt the cold metal rest in his palm. He sawed through the rope and gently released Steve’s arms before passing the knife back to Kono.

“Get his feet for me.”

Danny took a good look at his best friend. His partner. His brother.

His face was battered. Blood ran down the left side of his face from a gash elbow his eyebrow. His eye was swollen closed. His nose was bloodied. His jaw was bruised and his lip was cracked.

His chest had blotchy, blooming bruises. Wide cuts were carved into the skin and blood oozed and crusted over the skin. Circular burn marks littered Steve’s shoulders, chest, and abdomen. A sticky, wet substance that looked like vomit was coating his lap. Danny could tell his partner’s digestive system had rebelled and he felt horrible for Steve.

“Danny, we need to get him out of here. That generator has been emitting carbon monoxide,” Kono warned.

“Shit,” Danny swore and looked around. “Kono, turn the generator off and grab that plywood.”

Hefting Steve onto the particle board was difficult. His body was completely limp and he was not a lightweight in the least.

“Let’s carry him into the larger room and see if we can get EMS to extract him,” Kono said.

The rough edges of the board cut into Danny’s fingers and palm as he and Kono awkwardly shuffled through the tight tunnel back to the other room. When they arrived they set the board down as gently as possible on a table.

“Chin, we have Steve. He’s alive, but unconscious,” Kono informed her cousin. “We need EMS.”

“Thank God,” Chin sighed. “We have your heat signals. They’ll be down in five minutes.” Chin assured them.

While Kono talked with Chin and gave him an update on Steve’s overall condition and directions on how to reach them, Danny found an unopened bottle of water what looked like Steve’s old T-shirt.

Wetting the fabric Danny gently tried to wash the dried blood, dirt, and sweat from Steve’s face. When he was done with his friend’s face he moved onto Steve’s chest and stomach. Danny avoided the bleeding cuts and the burns as he cleaned the vomit. As a father, Danny was no longer squeamish. He had witnessed enough of Grace and Charlie’s puke, poo, pee, sweat, blood and tears that he was an old pro with cleaning it up. Hell, after working with Steve for this long he was an old pro at cleaning Steve up when he was too exhausted, oblivious, busy, or unperturbed to do it himself.

Danny could feel the exhaustion seeping into his bones as the adrenaline weaned. He drank a few sips of water and leaned against the wall. They found him. Steve was alive.

“Danny, EMS is on their way. I’m going to try and find an easier way out of here,” Kono said.

“Yeah, good idea. I’m going to stay with Steve.”

Kono found an entrance to the system of lava tubes that was wider, and less steep than the way Kono and Danny had originally entered from. This entrance also looked like the way Steve was dragged through based on the disturbed dirt floor.

The paramedics and HPD backup showed up right after Kono returned.

“We didn’t find anyone else in the other tunnels,” Officer Kaiwi said.

“Ok, can you go back to the other room and start collecting evidence?” Danny asked them.

“Yes, we will wait for CSU to come through,” Kaiwi said.

“Ok, but don’t spend too much time in there. We don’t know how long that generator was running,” Danny warned them before they left.  
Danny supervised the pair of paramedics who were checking Steve’s vitals and carefully moving his partner onto a backboard.

“How long has he been down here?” One paramedic asked Danny.

“A little over two days,” Danny said.

“Do you know if he is allergic to anything?”

“Uh,” Danny thought, “I think he might be mildly allergic to sulfonamide.” Danny vividly remembered the red rash that spread across Steve’s body after he took sulfonamide based antibiotics for a bladder infection he caught the year before.

“Ok, are there any other medical conditions we should know about?”

“Not that I know of,” Danny replied.

“Has he been unconscious since you found him?”

“Yes,” Danny told the paramedic. “When we got here he was in a small room with a running generator.”

“Alright,” the paramedic said. “We have to get him out of here now. He could have severe carbon monoxide poisoning. The sooner we can get him to the hospital the better.”

The pair stopped assessing Steve and headed out of the tunnels with Danny on their heels. They soon were transferring Steve into the back of the ambulance. Danny climbed in behind them and felt the ambulance jolt forward.

“Guys, we’re on our way to the hospital now,” Danny said. “Has Locklear been apprehended?”

“Not yet. We have HPD searching and all ways off the island are searching for him incase he tries to flee O’ahu,” Jerry said, finally able to communicate with the rest of the team now that they were within cell range.

“Damn it!” Danny hissed and turned to the paramedic who was attaching leads to Steve’s bare chest.

“We need to go to Tripler. One of our suspects is a doctor who works at Queens. Steve’s not safe there.”

“You here that, Nigel?” The paramedic yelled to the driver.

“10-4, Jay. I’ll call ahead.”

“‘K. Step on it, I’m not liking his oxygen levels,” Jay said and readjusted the oxygen mask over Steve’s face.

 

“Jerry, we’re heading to Tripler. Can you call Eric and have him scour those tunnels?” Danny asked hoping his nephew would be able to find any drugs Steve was given so they could give the doctors an accurate list of things that could cause problems.

“Will do. How’s Steve?” Jerry asked, concern evident in his voice.

“I don’t know,” Danny sighed taking another look at Steve. “He looks bad. He hasn’t woken up yet, but he’s breathing.”

“Alright, you take care of our boy,” Jerry said. “I’ll call Eric and meet you guys at Tripler.”

Danny could feel the ambulance weave between traffic and then eventually slow to a stop. Jay was piling wires and the portable oxygen tank between Steve’s feet. Danny heard the driver’s side door and saw Nigel open the back doors of the bus.

Danny followed both men through the sliding doors of the ER as they briefed the ER doctors and nurses of Steve’s condition, vitals, and current medications. A petite woman in scrubs stopped Danny outside of the exam room.

“Sir, you have to stay out here,” She said firmly, yet politely.

“But,” Danny argued, looking through the glass panes in the wooden doors. Looking at Steve’s still form.

“Sir, give us room to help him,” the woman said again. “I’ll come find you when I have updates.”

A young man dressed in a Navy working uniform approached Danny.

“Detective Williams?” He asked.

“Uh, Yes,” Danny said distracted.

“I’m Lieutenant Junior Grade James Santos. I’ve been tasked with providing for Lieutenant Commander McGarrett and your team.”

“Thank you,” Danny said awkwardly.

“I’ve place a guard with the Commander and they’ve been informed of the situation. I also have a room where you and your team can wait… if you wish.” Santos finished.

“Thank you, I have to make a few calls,” Danny said remembering Catherine.

“This way,” Santos said and showed Danny to a room furnished like a small conference room. “I’ll be down the hall if you need anything.”

“Thanks again, Lieutenant.”

“Of course, sir.”

“Just Danny, please.”

“Yes, Danny.”

Danny sank down into one of the office chairs and pulled out Steve’s phone from his pocket. The charge was low, but Danny hoped it would be enough to make the call he promised to make.

 

“Catherine?” He asked when he heard the click of the line connecting.

“Danny? Did you find him?”

“Yeah, Cath. We found him,” Danny told her. “He’s getting treated at Tripler. We haven’t gotten any information yet, but…”

“Yeah, I know. It’s Steve,” Catherine chuckled nervously. “Did the malware work?”

“Eventually, yes. It look a little bit for us to find our guys, but we’ve been sharing all of the IP addresses with local authorities.”

“Good. How is he?”

“I don’t know…” Danny sighed. “He hasn’t regained consciousness, yet. He probably has carbon monoxide poisoning. He looks bad, but we’ll know how bad it really is soon.”

“God. Have you talked to the Governor?”

“Yeah,” Danny sighed, vividly remembering that conversation. “He wasn’t pleased, but once he knew about the connection to a possible global human trafficking ring and an illegal human experiment program he cooled off.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Listen, Danny, I have to get back to work. Keep me updated, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Danny said. “Be safe, Catherine.”

“You too, Danny. Bye.”

 

Ten minutes later Jerry showed up escorted by Lieutenant Santos. He looked exhausted and his clothes were rumpled. Danny suspected he looked similar. The team hadn’t had much sleep over the past few days. They each had taken short naps on the couches in their offices between their search for Steve and the calls and emails to other agencies about the IP addresses found by the implanted malware.

“Hey, Jer,” Danny greeted Jerry.

“Aloha, Danny. Have they told you anything?”

Danny shook his head.

“No, we only got here about fifteen minutes ago.”

“Maybe you should go clean up,” Jerry suggested and pointed at Danny’s bloodied hands and general dirt and grime covered facade. Danny frowned. “Lieutenant Santos said there’s a bathroom next door we can use.”

“I…” Danny said, not wanting to miss any updates on Steve’s condition.

“Danny, just go. No offense, but you kinda smell. I’ll tell you if you miss anything.” Jerry told the detective. Danny had to agree. He could feel the grime on his skin and the grease building up in his hair. He could really use a wash and a fresh pair of clothes.

“Right, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

 

The warm water did wonders. Danny’s fingers and palms stung as the warm water and soap cleaned out the rough cuts carved by the particle board stretcher. Danny stood under the warm spray and methodically scrubbed at the layer of dirt he collected in the lava tubes. He quickly used the generic soap to clean his hair and shut the water off.

Someone had brought him a pair of Navy issue camo pants and T-shirt. Danny scowled at the pants, but tugged them on. The material was heavier than his normal trousers and felt awkward. He towel dried his hair and went to see if anyone had new information on McGarrett.

Danny walked back into the room Lieutenant Santos set aside for the team and saw that Chin and Kono had arrived. Chin was sitting in the corner on the phone with what sounded like Sarah’s babysitter and Kono was chatting quietly with Jerry.

“Any news?” Danny asked to get their attention. He could see the amusement blooming in Kono’s eyes. He glared at her, daring her to say something about his clothes.

“No,” Jerry said. “They said he’s still being evaluated.”

Danny sighed and sank into a chair. He had to call Rachel. She had left him three voice messages and a few texts that he knew he didn’t want to open.

 

“Hello, Daniel…” Rachel answered. He could tell she was pissed at him.

“Rachel, listen,” he started.

“No, Daniel. I understand that your job is important, but could you not spare five minutes?”

Danny felt his anger rising and his face flushing.

“A simple, ‘Yes, Rachel. I’ll do that. I’ve got to go.’ would have been great,” Rachel ranted.

“Rachel, I’m sorry. Steve was kidnapped and it wasn’t the best time.”

“Wait, what? My god!” Rachel exclaimed. “Is he all right?”

“We don’t know… we’re at Tripler. I might need you to swap weekends,” Danny sighed after realizing he might have to miss his weekend with Grace and Charlie.

“Of course. Don’t worry about it, Daniel. Do you want me to tell Gracie?”

“No, not yet. I’ll call her when we know more,” Danny told his ex. “I don’t want her to worry.”

“Alright. Call me if you need anything.”

“I will. Thank you, Rachel,” Danny said.

 

By the time Lieutenant Santos returned, Kono had also showered and changed into the provided military style clothes. Someone also came in and properly cleaned the cuts on their hands and wrapped them in clean white gauze. Kamekona had stopped by with food for the team and everyone looked, more or less, alive again.

Chin was on the phone with Lou who was out of town at Renee’s aunt’s funeral and wouldn’t be back until Friday. He had offered to return as soon as he heard about Steve’s kidnapping, but the team assured him that they could do without the elder captain. He hung up when he saw the young Navy Lieutenant enter the room accompanied by an older woman dressed in blue scrubs.

“Good evening, I’m Dr. Shelby. I was assigned to Lieutenant Commander McGarrett’s care.”

“How is he?” Danny blurted out before introductions could be properly made.

“Considering, Lieutenant Commander McGarrett is doing alright. He is in serious, but stable condition,” Dr. Shelby said. “The main problem we are focusing on right now is his oxygen levels.”

Danny knew this. Steve’s oxygen levels had been low on the ambulance drive and the oxygen mask wasn’t helping much.

“He is showing signs of moderate carbon monoxide poisoning and dry drowning, so we are going to try hyperbaric oxygen therapy in order to raise his oxygen levels,” the physician told the group.

“Has he regained consciousness?” Kono asked.

“No, but that is to be expected with his oxygen levels. He is showing signs of a mild concussion, so that might also delay him waking up.”

“Can we see him?” Danny questioned, hopeful.

“Unfortunately, not yet. He won’t be allowed visitors until tomorrow morning at the earliest. His hand requires surgery to fix the broken bones and we can’t send him up to surgery until his oxygen levels are stabilized.”

Danny winced. Queens hospital had told the team that his hand was in bad shape during their search for Dr. Ezra Locklear. When Steve woke up he was going to be a pain in Danny’s ass.

“Why don’t you head home. Get some rest and come back tomorrow,” Dr. Shelby said, “Commander McGarrett won’t be conscious until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest.”

Danny shook his head.

“Why don’t you guys go home and spend time with your families. I’ll stay here,” Danny said, knowing Chin had been separated from Sarah for a while and Kono hadn’t seen Adam much either.

“Detective Williams,” Dr. Shelby started, but Lieutenant Santos shook his head at her.

“He can stay if he wants, orders from above,” the young soldier vaguely explained. Danny thought it had something to do with Joe White or another member of the SEAL teams. Whoever had pulled strings, Danny was grateful and not questioning it.

 

The night prior, Danny had fallen asleep quickly on the thin-mattressed cot someone had set up in the conference room. He hadn’t been woken during the night and he woke naturally with the sun in the morning. He took that as a good sign. Steve was in good hands.  
Someone had left him toiletries and a new pair of military style clothing. Danny cleaned up and found Steve’s doctor. He got an update on his friend and was told to get something to eat. After finding the ‘mess hall’, Danny grabbed breakfast to go and texted the team.

Steve’s out of surgery. Hasn’t woken yet. No visitors. Will text with updates later.  
-D

His phone vibrated seconds after the message sent.

On my way. Do you need anything? -C

Danny smiled. Chin Ho Kelly was one of the most loyal and generous people Danny had ever met.

I’m good. Thx tho. -D

“Detective?” Lieutenant Santos entered the room.

“What is it?” Danny asked nervously as he read the other man’s expression.

“Commander McGarrett is starting to regain some consciousness. He is pretty confused still and he keeps trying to leave his bed to find someone called Mary.”

Danny swore. This was something that Steve would pull.

“Mary is his sister,” Danny explained.

“Do you think she can speak with him. We don’t want to restrain him, but we’re worried he is going to worsen his injuries if he continues to fightback.”

“Uh, she lives in LA, but I’ll call her,” Danny told Santos.

“Thank you,” Santos said. “I’ll wait in the hall.”

Danny thanked the man and pulled out Steve’s phone again. Danny thought he should really just transfer Steve’s emergency contacts into his own phone.

“Steve! What’s going on?” Mary answered happily. She didn’t know. Steve and Danny had a deal. Unless the other was dead or dying, neither would call the other’s parents, siblings, or children(in Danny’s case) if something went wrong. It was much simpler to wait and make sure everyone was going to be fine before calling. It saved their families the stress and fear associated with their job.

“Mary, it’s Danny,” He said.

“Danny? What’s going on? Where’s Steve?” Mary asked, her fear driving into his bones.

“He’s ok, Mary. An undercover job went wrong, but he’s fine now,” Danny reassured Steve’s younger sister.

“Oh my god!” Mary breathed. “Are you sure he’s going to be ok?”

“Yes, the doctors say he’ll recover. Listen, Steve’s been in and out of consciousness and is still a little confused. Could you possibly try to speak with him?” Danny asked.

“What do you mean?

“He keeps saying your name and trying to fight off the nurses and leave. They’re worried he’s going to hurt himself more if he doesn’t stop.”

“That’s it. I’m going to be on the next flight, but give the phone to Steve and I’ll see what I can do,” Mary said just like her older brother would. Stubbornly.

Danny went out into the hall and handed Mary over to Santos who refused to let Danny join him on his way to Steve’s room.

Danny sat in a chair and chewed on his thumb nail nervously. It was an old habit that he had broken himself of, but he was nervous and doing it subconsciously. Danny heard Chin arrive and looked up at his friend.

“Steve’s going nuts,” Danny informed his friend like it was nothing new. Nothing bad. Nothing wrong. He tried to keep a positive face, but he could feel the stress and the fear catching up with him. His shoulders hunched and he could feel Chin’s arm wrap around his shoulders.

Danny let go for the first time since this ordeal had begun. He sobbed into his hands and breathed heavily, leaning into Chin for what seemed like forever. When he finally calmed down he could see a white tissue being offered to him. He took it and cleaned himself up.

“What do you mean Steve is going nuts? The man is always nuts,” Chin said.

“He’s starting to wake up, but he’s confused. He keeps calling for Mary. He’s fighting the nurses and trying to leave. They say they’ll have to restrain him if he doesn’t stop,” Danny told Chin miserably.

“I called Mary. She is trying to talk to Steve over the phone now. She’s going to be on the next flight out,” Danny explained after Chin sat there quietly.

“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Chin reassured his friend. “I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Chin reassured himself.

 


	7. Chapter 7: Recovery

“I called Mary. She is trying to talk to Steve over the phone now. She’s going to be on the next flight out,” Danny explained after Chin sat there quietly.

  
“I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Chin reassured his friend. “I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Chin reassured himself.

 

 

It was late in the afternoon before anyone was allowed to visit McGarrett. Danny and the rest of the team, except for Chin who was waiting for Mary’s flight to arrive, were waiting to see Steve. Jerry and Kono had set up office in the conference room and had been coordinating with agencies on the mainland as well as HPD on the island to find Locklear and the other suspects involved in the case.

“Detective Williams,” Dr. Shelby greeted Danny as she walked into the room. “Steve’s condition has stabilized enough that I think he can have visitors.”

“Really? That’s great!” Danny sighed in relief.

“If you will follow me, we can talk as we go,” Shelby said. Danny nodded and grabbed his phone from the table and shoved it into the camouflage pockets.

“Detective Williams,” Dr. Shelby began.

“Just Danny’s fine,” Danny told the doctor.

“Alright, Danny. Commander McGarrett’s condition is stable, but he has a long road to recovery ahead of him,” Dr. Shelby told Danny as they walked through blank hallways.

“His oxygen levels have stabilized and surgeons have implanted two pins and some screws into the bones of Steve’s hand to stabilize the break so it will heal properly. Along with that, the Commander was severely dehydrated when he arrived and his kidney was damaged. We are rehydrating him via IV solutions and monitoring his fluid output and kidney function. His kidney should heal itself without our intervention with rest and time,” Shelby said. Danny sighed.

“He has multiple bruises, burns, and cuts that make him look worse than he actually is, so be prepared for that,” Dr. Shelby warned Danny as she stopped outside a door at the end of a hallway. Two uniformed soldiers stood guard outside the door. Both nodded at Dr. Shelby as she opened the door.

“Danny, this is Petty Officer Clunes and Petty Officer Brown. They have volunteered to be part of the Commander’s protection detail. They are briefed on the situation and know who is allowed into the Commander’s room.”

Danny looked at the soldiers again. Both looked battle hardened, much unlike the other medical staff at Tripler. Danny had a hunch these guys knew McGarrett. Danny nodded in thanks to the two men.

Danny walked into the room and saw Steve properly cleaned and bandaged. He looked bad. A thin sheet covered Steve’s groin and legs, but the rest of him was left to the open air. Bruises and bandages littered Steve’s chest and stomach. Wires and tubes flowed from his body. Steve’s right hand was elevated on a stack of pillows and swathed in bandages. His face, though partially obscured by a bulky oxygen mask, was a mess.

The dark bruising stood out starkly against the pallid skin. The from his left eyebrow to his cheekbone and across to his nose, dark bruising and swelling obscured Steve’s face. A thin line of stitches and butterfly band aids kept the gash above Steve’s eye closed. A cluster of stitches ran through Steve’s busted lip.

Danny sighed and sat back in the chair to Steve’s left.

“Hey, man,” Danny said. “Just wanted to say that you’ve caused us enough problems. So, please, I am begging you, stop being an idiot.” Steve made no movement to acknowledge that he had heard Danny.

“Everyone is here. Kono and Jerry are working the case upstairs in the room your friends at the Navy provided for us. Chin is waiting to pick Mary up at the airport. Kamekona has been feeding us, but I’m sure that will come and bite us in the butt later,” Danny joked. “You will be picking up that bill. I told you this was a bad idea, but you didn’t listen. You never listen.”

Danny chatted one-sidedly with Steve. He told Steve about the case. He told Steve about how he killed Michael. He told Steve about his latest weekend with Grace and Charlie and how they went to the movies and Charlie spilt his drink all over himself and didn’t tell Danny until the film ended. Danny chuckled to himself at the picture of his son covered in sticky fabric and trying to hide it.

 

“Mary, how are you?” Danny asked kindly. Mary Ann McGarrett looked exhausted. She was still dressed in her rumpled office attire, meaning she probably left directly from work to fly down to Hawaii. Her face looked tired and drawn.

“I’m alright, Danny,” Mary said. “How’s Steve?”

“I saw him this afternoon. He was sleeping, but he’s ok,” Danny reassured her.

“That’s good,” Mary said, not knowing what to do for her big brother who was always fine.

“Yeah. Did you leave Joanie with Deb?”

“Yes, she wanted to come, but she has appointments she can’t miss,” Mary told Danny.

“Do you have a place to stay or are you staying at Steve’s?”

“Chin dropped my bags off at Steve’s and I still have the spare key.”

“Good, I’ll have someone stop my the store for food. Steve has no good food in his kitchen and I’m sure things are growing fuzz by now,” Danny said. He knew Steve kept the bare minimum in his kitchen to begin with. He avoided processed foods and stuck to fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy and meats. All his perishables are probably disgusting since Steve hadn’t been home since Sunday morning.

 

“Thanks, Danny. Do you know if I can see him?”

“I don’t know. Visiting hours are over, but I’ll see if I can find Dr. Shelby,” Danny promised Mary and gave her a reassuring smile.

Dr. Shelby gave Mary fifteen minutes to visit Steve between his trips to radiology and nephrology for tests. Danny stood outside the door as Steve’s sister went into the room. Two more military men stood guard outside the door. Again, neither of them looked like the other young hospital workers. Both looked like they were battle hardened soldiers, not low ranking navy recruits.

“Has he woken up yet?” Danny asked Shelby.

“Not really,” Dr. Shelby shook her head. “It’s not uncommon for people with similar injuries to be confused and agitated for a day or two.”

“Damn,” Danny swore, “He is going to be ok, right?”

“With time, he should be fine,” Shelby said.

“Should be? What do you mean should be?” Danny asked with his nerves spiking.

“Well…” the doctor started off, “we don’t know exactly how long Steve was exposed to the carbon monoxide. We also can’t tell how his concussion and the dehydration are going to affect him.”

“What, so Steve could have brain damage?”

“Oh, no! Nothing as extreme as that,” Dr. Shelby assured Danny, “Steve’s EEG isn’t showing any major brain damage that would impair function. At this point, we can’t tell exactly when Steve is going to be awake and lucid.”

“Oh,” Danny said. “But he is going to wake up?”

“I think that’s a safe bet to make. Steve is already showing signs of waking up for a few minutes at a time. His confusion should improve with time because his oxygen levels are stable and we’ve been rehydrating him via IV fluids, but it will take time.”

“Good,” Danny sighed and entered the room to see Mary sitting heavily in the chair next to Steve’s bed.

“Hey,” Danny said and stood next to her.

“Hi,” Mary said not looking away from Steve, who, thankfully, had a thin sheet covering his chest.

“Listen, Mary. I know he looks bad, but I promise you, it looks worse than it is.”

“God, Danny. What did they do to him?” Mary whispered.

“Mary, listen. Mary, Steve is going to be fine. I’ve been talking with his doctors and they say he will be fine.”

“But, Danny…” Mary said and placed her hand on Steve’s uncovered hand.

“I know he looks bad. I’m not going to lie to you. He’s going to have to let himself heal and I’m sure that won’t be easy, but it’s Steve,” Danny told Steve’s sister. “The man has dealt with much worse. He’s going to wake up and be a major pain in our asses.”  
Mary smiled slightly.

“I remember there was this one time when we were young,” Mary said, “Steve wiped out on his bike and broke his leg. He gave mom ulcers because he wouldn’t rest and he was bored out of his mind sitting around the house.”  
Danny smiled and shook his head.

“That’s nothing. Steve broke his arm falling near the petroglyphs a few months after I first met him. Not only did he climb up cliff with his broken arm, but he was back at work and tackling suspects the next day! Drove us all nuts trying to keep him on desk duty,” Danny chuckled.

 

“Chin?” Danny answered his phone. “What have you got for me?”

“HPD found Locklear’s car in Manoa, but they found no signs of Locklear nearby,” Chin said.

“Great,” Danny sighed. “Well he can’t get off the island. Have we found any connections with other users of the dark web on the island?”

“Not yet, but I called Toast and I have him searching,” Chin told Danny. “How’s Steve?”

“About the same,” Danny said. It was now Thursday evening and Danny had sent the rest of the team back to headquarters to work the case and track Locklear down. “He’s been in and out of consciousness, but he’s still confused.”

“Man,” Chin sighed, “If you need anything, just call us?”

“Sure, man. Thanks,” Danny said. He was still sleeping on the thin mattress Santos supplied him at Tripler. He hadn’t been back to his home in days and was wearing whatever clothes the Navy had been leaving him. Mostly military issue pants and t-shirts that made him look too much like a McGarrett want-to-be than he liked.

“Listen, Chin can you stop by my place and get me some clothes and my razor?”

“Will do, brah. I’ll stop by on my way home.”

“Thanks, man. See you then,” Danny said. “Listen, I’ve got to go.” He said as he spotted Dr. Shelby outside his door.

“No problem. I’ll text you when I get there,” Chin said and let Danny go.

“Danny, Steve woke for about five minutes. He was lucid and was able to respond to a few of our questions before falling asleep again,” Dr. Shelby said.

“Thank god!” Danny said. “He say anything about Locklear?”

“Unfortunately not. He did ask when he could leave, though,” Shelby said, smirking.

“I told you the man is one of the worst patients you could ever have,” Danny told the doctor.

“I gave him another dose of pain medication and I don’t expect him to be awake again for a few hours, but you’re willing to stay with him if you wish.”

 

“‘Anny?” Danny heard.

“Danny?” The voice asked again. Danny cracked an eye and saw Steve looking at him. He quickly sat up in the chair he was napping in and smiled.

“Hey, buddy!” Danny smiled.

“Hey,” Steve said with a gravelly voice. Danny poured his partner a glass of water and held the bendy straw to Steve’s lips. After Steve took a few sips of water Danny set the cup down on the table beside Steve’s bed.

“How’re you feeling?”

“‘M Fine,” Steve said trying to shift around in the bed.

“Hey, no!” Danny scolded Steve. “No, just stay still.”

“How long?”

“Kerry and Locklear took you on Sunday morning. We found you in a lava tube near Hawaii Kai Tuesday night,” Danny told Steve. “It’s Friday morning.”

“Wha happened?” Steve asked confused. Danny frowned.

“Steve, what do you remember?”

“Locklear drugged me…” Steve paused. “Kerry wanted me to tell him something… can’t remember.”

“We found the recordings,” Danny said frowning. He only made it through the first few minutes of watching Steve being tortured by Michael Kerry.

“Hmmm… didn’t tell ‘em, Danno. I didn’t tell…” Steve muttered. His eyes drifting shut.

“I know, babe. I know,” Danny said and rested his hand on Steve’s forearm. “Go to sleep. I’ll be here.”

“‘K.” Steve sighed. “Danno?”

“What?”

“Nice pants,” Steve smirked and closed his eyes. Danny groaned and looked down at the camouflage BDU pants Santos had been supplying him.

“Sleep, you animal.”

 

“Mary! What are you doing here?” Steve asked in surprise as his younger sister walked through the door to his room.

“Danny called me,” Mary said and sat down in the chair Danny had vacated a few minutes earlier.

“Why?” Steve asked. Mary’s face fell and she scowled at her brother.

“Because that’s what friends should do,” Mary said to her brother.

“Mary,” Steve countered and tried to sit up against the pillows. He gave a quiet gasp and decided to lay back on the pillows instead.

“No, Steve, you don’t get to be angry! You were confused and kept trying to find me. Danny called me when you became combative and the doctors were afraid you’d hurt yourself!”

“What?” Steve frowned. He didn’t remember any of this.

“Don’t worry about it,” Mary told her brother, “I’m here now and I’m not going anywhere.”

“You don’t have to, Mary.”

“I’m your sister. Of course I have to.”

“Fine. Where’s Joanie?” Steve asked, knowing it was no use to deal with his stubborn sister.

“Aunt Deb is looking after her,” Mary said.

“Listen, Mary. You don’t have to stay,” Steve said.

“You don’t have to do this alone, you know,” Mary told her brother. “I know you are used to dealing with this alone, but I’m here.”

“Fine. You staying at the house?” Steve asked his sister.

“Yeah, Chin let me in and I’m borrowing your truck,” Mary told Steve. Steve groaned.

“Don’t crash it, Mary,” Steve told his sister.

“That was one time, Steve! It wasn’t even my fault!” Mary protested.

“Uh-huh, sure,” Steve yawned.

“I’ll let you get some sleep,” Mary told her brother, noticing the exhaustion in his face.

“Hmmm,” Steve hummed and let his eyes closed. He could feel Mary plant a kiss on his forehead and push his hair back. Seconds later he heard the audible click of the door closing behind her.

 

“Danny, why did you call Mary?” Steve asked, shooting his partner a glare.

“You were out of it. The doctors wanted Mary to talk with you. Once she knew what was going on she took the first flight out here,” Danny said.

“Danny…” Steve groaned.

“Look, Steve. I know it goes against our deal, but I didn’t really have a choice. If you didn’t calm down they were going to sedate you,” Danny explained.

“You should have let them. Mary doesn’t need to worry about this,” Steve said gesturing to his face.

“No, she wants to be here for you. She wants to be your sister. For once, just let her,” Danny told Steve.

“I let her,” Steve argued. Danny raised an eyebrow and snorted.

“No, you don’t. You call her maybe once a month and you don’t spend holidays together.”

“I call her once a week,” Steve corrected. “I also was planning on going to LA on our next long break.”

“Uh-huh, sure you were,” Danny muttered.

“Fine, whatever, Danno,” Steve muttered back and shifted painfully in the bed.

“Do you want help?” Danny asked his partner.

“Help me sit up, my back’s killing me.” Danny helped Steve adjust the angle of the bed and propped a few pillows behind his shoulders.

“Danny, what happened to Kerry and Locklear?” Steve asked once the pain associated with moving waned.

“Kerry’s dead. HPD found Locklear’s car, but there’s no sign of Locklear,” Danny told Steve.

“What were they doing?”

“Jerry was able to find the website Kerry and Locklear were using on the computer at the clubhouse. Steve, it’s disturbing,” Danny shivered.

“What?”

“There’s this dark web group. They’ve been doing illegal experiments on humans and posting the results for money,” Danny explained.

“We’ve been tracking down all the users with the help of the local authorities, FBI, and Toast.”

“So, Locklear and Kerry were doing these experiments for money?”

“Yes, it looks like they’ve been getting ‘subjects’ from the homeless population as well as human traffickers.”

“Until Barna and Kahele found out what they were doing…” Steve said.

“Yeah,” Danny sighed.

“How did we miss this, Danny?”

“No one noticed the homeless going missing. Chin and Kono went out to one of the main camps and asked around. Everyone just thinks they moved to another camp or something,” Danny said.

“Danny, you have to find Locklear,” Steve said, turning his bruised face towards Danny.

“I know, Steve. We will, but for now, you have to rest.”

“I’ll be fine, Danno,” Steve muttered.

“Fine? You, my friend, are not fine! Not in the least!” Danny ranted. “You’re concussed. Your kidney is bruised, your ribs are busted, your hand is a mess, and your face is, frankly, a disaster.”

“Don’t forget about the tooth, Danno,” Steve taunted.

“What tooth?” Danny asked his partner who hooked his left index finger under his upper lip and showed Danny the gap between his molars and canine tooth.

“Of course, you would be most worried about your tooth. Not your kidney. Not your head. Not your shoulder. Not your hand, which by the way, is held together with little pieces of metal. No, you are upset about your tooth,” Danny ranted.

“My hand is what?” Steve asked.

“You didn’t know?” Danny asked. Steve shook his head minutely.

“Dr. Shelby told me about the carbon monoxide poisoning and the concussion. She also said I broke a few ribs and broke my hand,” Steve said.

“Well, I think she downplayed it a bit,” Danny said. “An orthopedic surgeon had to put screws and two pins into your hand so that the bones would heal properly. Your kidney is bruised and the doctors are still worried about its function based on your output,” Danny told Steve and blushed. He shouldn’t know about his partner’s urine. “You showed symptoms of dry drowning, so there’s a worry about you developing pneumonia.”

“Damn,” Steve groaned.

“Yeah, you’re going to be here for quite a few days,” Danny told Steve.

“Shit,” Steve said and sank back into the pillows.

“Danny?” Steve asked a few minutes later.

“What?” Danny replied as he looked up from the newspaper.

“Who’s outside the door?”

“I’ve got no clue,” Danny said. “Want me to go get them?”

Steve nodded. Danny got up from his chair and went over the door.

“Hey, Steve wants to talk with you. I’ll wait out here,” Danny told the two guards.

“Alright,” the short, stocky guard on his left said. “Jones, let’s go talk with the commander.”

  
Both men walked into the room and Danny could hear the men talking through the closed door. Danny felt his phone vibrate and answered.

“Williams,” He said.

“Danny, we found Locklear. It looks like he committed suicide on Waimano Ridge,” Duke said.

“Shit,” Danny swore. He wasn’t upset that the man killed himself, but he was upset that they could no longer question the man. “Ok, thanks, Duke. I’ll tell the rest of the team.”

“No problem. I’m sending the body to Max, but it’s pretty clear this was a suicide,” Duke told Danny.

“Right, thanks,” Danny said.

“How’s Steve doing?”

“He’s much better. He woke up yesterday and slept most of the day. He’s been awake for a few hours today,” Danny said.

“That’s good to hear,” Duke said. “Tell him to get better for me.”

“Will do, Duke. Call me if you have something on Locklear.”

“Of course, take care of Steve,” Duke said and hung up.

 


	8. Chapter 8: Control

“Williams,” He said.

“Danny, we found Locklear. It looks like he committed suicide on Waimano Ridge,” Duke said.

“Shit,” Danny swore. He wasn’t upset that the man killed himself, but he was upset that they could no longer question the man. “Ok, thanks, Duke. I’ll tell the rest of the team.”

“No problem. I’m sending the body to Max, but it’s pretty clear this was a suicide,” Duke told Danny.

“Right, thanks,” Danny said.

“How’s Steve doing?”

“He’s much better. He woke up yesterday and slept most of the day. He’s been awake for a few hours today,” Danny said.

“That’s good to hear,” Duke said. “Tell him to get better for me.”

“Will do, Duke. Call me if you have something on Locklear.”

“Of course, take care of Steve,” Duke said and hung up.

 

“Kono, Locklear’s body was found near Waimano Ridge. Duke thinks it was a suicide,” Danny told Kono. “He’s sending the body over to Max.”

“Ok, Danny. Chin and I will head over there soon. How’s Steve?”

“Better. I think he’s starting to get antsy, but Mary and I are keeping him in check,” Danny said.

“Good. Does he know?”

“No, Duke just called me and Steve’s talking with friends. I’ll tell him later,” Danny told Kono.

“Ok, Danny. Do you need anything?”

“No, Mary is going to stay here tonight so I can talk with Charlie and Grace.”

“Are you going to tell them?”

“Not Charlie. I’ll have to tell Grace, though. She knows something was wrong because I missed our time together,” Danny told Kono. He was already regretting having to tell Gracie that Steve was in the hospital again. His little girl had always worried about Danny, the team, and especially her Uncle Steve.

“Call me or Chin if you need anything,” Kono told him before hanging up.

 

“Danno!” Charlie called as Danny rang Rachel’s doorbell. Danny stooped down and allowed his son to run into his arms.

“Hi, Charlie!” Danny said and crushed his son in a tight hug.

“I missed you. Mommy said you were working,” Charlie said, frowning.

“I was buddy. We had a really important case, but I’m here now,” Danny told Charlie and looked up to see Grace carrying her bags down the steps.

“Hi, Danno!” Grace told her dad and gave him a small hug.

“Gracie, how are you?”

“Good. How are you? The team?” Grace asked nervously.

“I’m good. We’ll talk later, ok?” Danny told his daughter and nodded over to where Charlie was dragging his bag over to the camaro.

“Ok, Danno,” Grace frowned and got into the passenger’s seat.

Charlie chattered on about his week almost the entire way back to Danny’s place. Grace looked nervous as she focused on the scenery outside the window.

“Charlie, why don’t you go and play in your room,” Danny told Charlie as he parked the car.

“Will you come, Danno?” Charlie asked.

“In a bit. I have to talk with Grace, bud,” Danny said and Charlie ran past him and into the house. Danny sighed and sat down on the front stoop. He patted the warm concrete next to him. Grace sat down.

“Danno, what’s wrong?”

“Grace, Steve got hurt last weekend,” Danny started.

“Is he ok?” Grace asked concerned.

“No, but he will be,” Danny told his daughter.

“Where is he? Can I see him?”

“He’s in the hospital right now. I don’t think you’ll be allowed to visit him yet, but I’ll see if I can pull some strings,” Danny said. He could talk with Dr. Shelby or maybe Santos. Both had pulled quite a few strings for Danny, Steve, and the team over the past week.

“Ok, is he ok?” Grace asked again.

“He’ll be fine. You know Uncle Steve,” Danny joked with Grace and nudged her with his shoulder. She smiled a little.

“Listen, Grace. He has some broken bones, some bruises, a few scrapes and cuts, but I bet he’ll be back home and driving us nuts in a week or two,” Danny told Grace.

“Danno, you promise?”

“I promise, baby,” Danny muttered into Grace’s hair.

The two stayed on the stoop hugging for a few more minutes before they heard Charlie calling for them.

“Grace, can you not tell Charlie yet? I think he’s too young,” Danny asked Grace.

“Yes, If he asks I’ll just say Uncle Steve is under the weather or something,” Grace shrugged, an old expert at lying to her younger brother about adult things.

“Thanks, now get inside, kid. I have to start dinner.”

 

“No! Don’t you dare!” Danny called as he entered Steve’s room and saw the man trying to swing his legs over the side of the bed.

“Danny! What are you doing here?” Steve asked the blonde man who was now gently pushing Steve back into the bed.

“I’m here to babysit you,” Danny said as he readjusted Steve’s pillows.

“Danny, stop!” Steve argued and swatted Danny’s hands away with his free hand.

“What were you trying to do?” Danny chastised Steve with his hands on his hips. Steve’s face reddened.

“I was going to the bathroom,” Steve told his partner.

“I thought you didn’t need to,” Danny said gesturing to the tubes and wires still attached to Steve. Both friends were now red cheeked.

“Uh… no. That was, uh… taken care of,” Steve stuttered.

“Right,” Danny said. “Listen, why don’t I get a nurse?”

“No, Danny. I’ve got it.”

“Not on your own, you don’t” Danny told Steve harshly. “If you don’t want a nurse, fine. I’ll help you in and I’ll wait outside the door.”

“Danny,” Steve warned Danny and glared through one open eye.

“Look, it’s a nurse, me, or a bedpan. Your choice,” Danny stipulated. Steve scowled again.

“Fine. Let’s just get this over with,” Steve said. Danny helped him untangle the wires and tubes before helping Steve sit up in the bed. Danny slipped a pair of ‘slippahs’ onto Steve’s bare feet and rolled the IV pole over in front of Steve for him to use for balance.

“Stand on three?” Danny asked and put an an arm around Steve’s back. Steve nodded.

“Ok, one. Two,” Danny counted and tightened his grip on Steve, “Three.”

Danny let Steve lean on him as they both stood. They both shuffled to the bathroom slowly. Danny could feel his friend leaning more and more on him as they reached the door. Danny helped Steve sit stiffly on the toilet seat and turned to leave.

“Steve, you don’t need anything else?” Danny asked in the doorway.

“No, I’m good Danny,” Steve said. He was paler than he was before this little adventure and a slight sheen of sweat appeared on his face.

“Alright, call me when you’re done,” Danny told his partner and stood outside the small room.

Danny hummed a tune to give Steve some privacy. He heard a flush followed by water running in the sink.

“Danny?” He could hear Steve ask.

“Yeah, babe?” Danny turned around to see Steve standing and bracing himself against the sink. He could see Steve tracing the cuts and bruises across his face with his unswollen eye.

“You ready?” Danny asked softly.

“Yeah,” Steve turned and Danny let him lean against his side.

Once Steve was settled back in bed with his wires and tubing fixed, his pillows fluffed, and his sling adjusted, Danny slouched into his chair.

“Where’s Mary?” Danny asked. More often than not, Mary was camped out in her brother’s room whenever Danny came to visit.

“I dunno. She said something about Petty Officer Brown,” Steve scowled.

“Steve, she’s an adult,” Danny reminded Steve. “On the bright side, if she likes him enough, maybe she’ll move back to Oahu.”  
Steve shot him a glare and snorted.

“Mary Ann isn’t one for settling down,” Steve told Danny.

“Steve, your sister has a daughter. If that’s not settling down, I don’t know what is.”

“Joanie is much different than a man,” Steve countered.

“Fine, but would it be a really bad thing if Mary did move back to Hawaii?”

“No, I suppose not,” Steve said.

“Right, well, as much as I want to discuss your sister’s love life, I am actually here for something else,” Danny said.

“What?”

“We need your statement,” Danny said awkwardly. “Look, I get that you probably don’t want to talk about it. Especially with me, but we need it.”

Steve stared blankly at Danny.

“I can have Kono or Chin do it if you want. I’m sure Lou or one of the HPD officers would be willing to do it too,” Danny offered.

“No,” Steve said firmly.

“No?” Danny asked confused.

“No, Danno. You,” Steve said looking into Danny’s eyes.

“Right. Ok. Well why don’t you start with after the rugby match?”

“With my discussion with Ezra or the social?”

“Start with when you first met Dr. Locklear?” Danny asked.

“Right. Uh,” Steve started, “I first met Dr. Ezra Locklear after Saturday’s rugby match with the Titans. During the match I had injured my hand…”

 

“Ok, Steve, let’s stop for now,” Danny stopped Steve. Danny was heartbroken at seeing and hearing what Michael Kelly and Ezra Locklear had did to his partner. Danny knew the worst parts were coming up and Danny didn’t know if he could cope with it. Steve hadn’t even talked about what Danny first saw in the video they found in the tunnels.

“Ok, Danno,” Steve said and sank back against the pillows. The man was pale and sweaty. He looked small against the pale sheets of the bed.

“Are you ok?” Danny asked and gripped Steve’s hand in his own.

“Yeah. I’m good, Danny,” Steve said.

“If you say so. I’m going for some coffee, do you need anything?”

“No, I might take a nap,” Steve said and closed his eyes. “My head is killing me.”

“Ok, I’ll come back later.”

Steve smiled and shooed Danny out of the room with his free hand. “Bring me my favorite from that shake place by the palace?”

“Sure, babe. I’ll see you later,” Danny said and made his way through the halls still haunted by the beginnings of Steve’s tale.

 

When Danny left his room, Steve let himself sink further into the soft pillows. Their walk to the bathroom took more out of him than he had expected it to. His head was throbbing. His back was tight and uncomfortable and the sling for his shoulder and hand rested harshly over a set of bruises. His chest ached when he tried to get into a better position. His hand hurt and was starting to itch. He could feel every bruise, burn, and cut protest as his skin stretched.

He let out a groan as he heard the door to his room open. He just wanted to take a nap. Hearing the door click closed again, Steve forced himself to tilt his head and open his eyes.

“Santos, take a seat,” Steve told his old team member.

“Sir,” Lieutenant Junior Grade James Santos greeted Steve.

“What are you doing in Hawaii?” Steve questioned the man should have been with the rest of his team.

“George and I adopted a little girl a few weeks ago. I was transferred to Pearl for a few weeks,” the SEAL told his old CO.

“Congratulations!” Steve smiled.

“Thanks, sir. She’s wonderful,” Santos smiled.

“I bet she is. Now, why are you spending time here instead of with your husband and child?”

“Sir?” Santos asked.

“Santos, I’m fine. Go home and spend time with your family,” Steve told the new father.

“No, sir. You’ve stumbled into a crime web that is much bigger than you thought,” Santos explained. “I’m here in the mornings and home in the afternoon when Jones, Clunes, and Brown take over for the rest of the day and evening.”

“Santos, I know Kerry and Locklear are dead,” Steve said. “I overheard Chin calling Max about the autopsy.”

“Yes, but HPD, Five-0, and the FBI are still looking into all the players,” Santos explained.

“Fine,” Steve sighed. “What else do you know? Danny won’t let anyone else tell me anything.”

“Sir,” Santos started nervously.

“No,” Steve cut the younger sailor off. “Just tell me. I’m going to find out sooner rather than later. Save me the work.”

Santos paused, sighed and then nodded.

“Fine. Detective Williams shot Michael Kerry dead in the tunnels. HPD got a call yesterday that Dr. Ezra Locklear committed suicide. Five-0 has been tracking down members of that human trafficking ring and members that commissioned or performed these human experiments.”

“And?”

“And, they are sharing the IP addresses they’ve collected with HPD and the FBI. Your computer expert says it might take weeks to track down all of the leads.”

“Toast?” Steve asked.

“I think so, why?”

“No reason. I’m just surprised he agreed to get involved with this case.”

“It seems like you have a lot of friends who’ve taken this case personally,” James Santos shrugged.

“Listen, I need you to do me a favor?” Steve asked.

“Anything, Sir?”

“Keep an eye on my sister, Mary. She’s been talking with Petty Officer Brown a little too much for my liking.”  
Santos laughed.

“Sir, Tim Brown is a good guy. He is also terrified of you.”

“Good,” Steve said. Santos smiled and stood up.

“I better get going. I have to pick Maeve up from George’s mother’s place,” Santos said. “I’ll leave you to get some rest, Sir.”

“Alright, Santos. Have fun with your little girl,” Steve said and let Santos move toward the door.

“And Santos?”

“Yeah?” the younger SEAL asked from the doorway.

“Thanks,” Steve said sincerely.

“It’s the least I could’ve done for you after Balochistan. I owe you my life,” Santos said, saluted Steve and left the room.

 

“Steve? Can I ask you a question?” Mary asked from where she stood next to the window.

“Sure,” Steve said looking up from the book she had smuggled in for him.

“Do you remember why you wanted me?” Mary asked. “I mean, we aren’t exactly close.”

“Mary,” Steve sighed. “You’re my little sister. You always will be.”

“But, why did you want me?”

“The doctors say the carbon monoxide poisoning was causing me to hallucinate,” Steve explained. “We were at the house. You were maybe nine and went into the water alone. I…” Steve paused and took a deep breath.

“I couldn’t find you. I thought you drowned. The next thing I knew I was drowning.”

“Steve,” Mary said and laced her fingers into his. “I’m fine. It was just a nightmare.”

“I know, Mare.”

“Steve,” Mary said.

“It was just so real. I know it didn’t happen, but it was just so real, you know?”

“Yeah, Steve. I understand,” Mary said. “I was going to call Aunt Deb and see how things with Joanie was going. Want to join in?”

“Sure, I’d love to hear what Joanie is doing with Deb!” Steve smiled.

“Mary Ann! How are you?” Aunt Deb answered her phone.

“We’re good, Aunt Deb,” Steve answered before Mary could.

“Steven! You’re sounding better!”

“I am, Aunt Deb,” Steve said.

“That’s good to hear,” Deb said. “Mary and I have been worried sick.”

“Sorry,” Steve said.

“No, this isn’t your fault, Steven.”

“Aunt Deb, how’s Joanie been for you?” Mary changed the subject. Steve smiled in thanks at her.

“Joanie? Oh, we’ve been having so much fun!” Deb said. “We went to the zoo and had swimming lessons today. She’s napping right now. Tomorrow we’re going to story time at the library.”

“How fun!” Mary said. “Don’t forget that she has playgroup Sunday.”

“It’s on my calendar,” Deb said.

“Hey, Aunt Deb, will you be able to pick Mary up from LAX Monday?” Steve asked.

“What?” Mary asked surprised. “I don’t have a flight scheduled.”

“Yes, you do. I’m good now. You have a flight leaving Honolulu for LAX Monday morning,” Steve said.

“Steve!” Mary argued.

“I’ll be fine. I’m just going to be home resting and starting physical therapy,” Steve told Mary.

“And? You think I’m just going to let you be alone?” Mary asked with her hands on her hips.

“No. Danny is already planning on staying in my old room,” Steve said.

“Steve,” Mary sighed.

“Mary, you have to get back to LA. Joanie needs you and I’ll be fine here.”

“Fine, but you’ll call me? Everyday?” Mary bargained.

“Deal,” Steve said. “So, Aunt Deb?”

“I don’t agree to this, but I know not to argue with you anymore. I’ll be there to pick Mary Ann up.”

“Thank you.”

 

“Steve,” Danny whispered. “You awake?”

“Yes,” Steve said opening his eyes. “Just thinking.”

“Well, don’t hurt yourself,” Danny laughed.

“What do you want, Danno?” Steve glared.

“Hey! What did I do?” Danny responded raising his hands.

“Just sit down,” Steve grumbled.

“Hey, what’s up with you, huh?”

“It’s nothing,” Steve responded.

“No, babe. This is not nothing. What’s going on?” Danny questioned Steve with a critical gaze. The man was sitting up against a mound of pillows, but he looked like he was still in pain. The bruises, burns, and cuts were still visible on Steve’s face, neck, and arms. Danny could see the tiredness in Steve’s face. The pained gaze and wrinkled forehead alerted to Danny that Steve was probably more than due for his next dose of medication.

“I’m just tired, Danno,” Steve sighed. Danny knew there was more to it, but let it drop for now. For Steve’s sake.

“Look. I can get someone to get you some meds and come back later if you want to sleep,” Danny offered and stood up.

“No, Danny. Sit down,” Steve told his partner firmly. Danny rolled his eyes and sat next to Steve again.

“Why don’t you try to get some sleep then? I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“No,” Steve sighed. “I need to finish my report.”

“Babe, that can wait,” Danny told Steve softly.

“Danny, I just need it to be over,” Steve said quietly looking Danny in the eyes. Danny understood. Danny understood everything.

"Ok, Steve. Why don't you start with what happened when you woke up?"

"Uh, yeah..." Steve scrunched his eyebrows together. "After Locklear drugged me, Kerry took me somewhere. I woke up restrained to a in a dark room. I couldn't see anything. I couldn't hear anything. I soon realized I was underground in a cave of some sort."

Steve licked his cracked lip and took a breath.

"I was alone for hours in the dark. Then, Michael Kerry turned on the lights and I knew I was in a lava tube then."

"He said he was impressed with me. I had woken up quicker than his other victims," Steve said emotionlessly. "I tried to keep my cover, but Kerry knew who I was. He'd recognized me that first practice, but he remembered who I was the night of the social."  
Steve looked up at Danny and continued.

"He wasn't very happy with me. He thought that by roughing me up he would get somewhere with me. He was wrong," Steve told his story.

"Kerry said he was excited to see how quickly he could make me break. He said I'd be a hit with their viewers, but he had to wait for Locklear to show up to start," Steve snarled. "I don't know how long I was unconscious, but when I woke up again, Kerry had bound me to that chair and I could hear him and Locklear talking about something."

"Ok, do you know what?" Danny asked.

"No, they were muffled and the echo..." Steve explained.

"No worries, Steve. What happened next?" Danny asked.

"Uh, they came in and Locklear talked with me. He confessed to killing Mateo and Ioane because they saw what he and Michael were doing. He then left me with Kerry. He, uh, he didn't want to watch."

"Good, Steve. That's good. Did he confess to any other murders?"

"No, but that was implied," Steve shook his head.

"After Locklear left, Michael Kerry tried to get me to tell him about my classified missions," Steve said vaguely.

"I know, Steve. We found the tapes. It was..." Danny trailed off. "I couldn't watch."

"Danno," Steve said. "Who else saw those tapes?"

"No one. Chin and I tried to watch, but we couldn't. It's sitting in my desk drawer. Even HPD doesn't know that it exists," Danny reassured his best friend. Steve nodded, relieved.

"Good. Danny, nobody should watch it. Ever. Destroy it?" Steve asked of the shorter man.

"After the case is over, ok?"

Steve nodded.

"Kerry, he uh, well... He really tried." Steve continued. "When the beatings, burns, and cuts didn't work he tried waterboarding me. It was awful, Danny,"

"I bet, buddy. Listen, we can stop if you want. I can come back later?"

"No, I'm almost done."

"You sure?" Danny asked and Steve nodded.

"That didn't work either. He tried to poison me, I think..." Steve tried to remember. "He forced me to drink this liquid. It was awful, oily and bitter. I forced myself to vomit it back up, but I knew I was already in trouble."

"Castor oil," Danny muttered.

"What?" Steve asked.

"It was castor oil. The lab tested everything we found asap," Danny explained.

"Well, that explains a lot," Steve said. "Certain groups in South East Asia use it to torture and humiliate their hostages before killing them."

"Kerry left me and I, uh," Steve paused and his face turned pink.

"I know, babe. It's alright. Just what happened after that?"

"Kerry came back. He knew he didn't have much time left, so he turned on that generator and left me to die. Next thing I know, I'm waking up here," Steve said. He looked over to Danny who was sitting in his chair, face red and knuckles white.

"Hey, it's ok, Danno," Steve told his partner. "I'm here. I'm ok."

"Yeah, Steve, you are," Danny said.

The pair sat in silence until Danny heard quiet snoring coming from his partner's bed. Steve was asleep at last. His face relaxed and calm. Danny knew the man was going to be fine. Smiling, Danny kicked off his shoes, leaned back in his chair and rested his feet on the side of Steve's bed. He drifted off quickly.

 


	9. Chapter 9: Healing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone who has read, commented, left kudos, etc. on this fic. I'm currently going through and fixing some grammar and formatting errors in the past few chapters, but here is the newest chapter. Hope you like it!

"Hey, it's ok, Danno," Steve told his partner. "I'm here. I'm ok."

"Yeah, Steve, you are," Danny said.

The pair sat in silence until Danny heard quiet snoring coming from his partner's bed. Steve was asleep at last. His face relaxed and calm. Danny knew the man was going to be fine. Smiling, Danny kicked off his shoes, leaned back in his chair and rested his feet on the side of Steve's bed. He drifted off quickly.

 

“Dr. Shelby,” Steve greeted as the older woman entered his room.

“Lieutenant Commander, how are you this afternoon?” Shelby asked as she looked over Steve’s chart.

“Better, but please, just call me Steve,” he told the doctor.

“Ok, Steve,” Shelby smiled. “Have you been experiencing any shortness of breath, dizziness, or pain when breathing?”

“Only with my ribs,” Steve responded.

“Good, that pain should ease soon. What about your back?”

“It’s stiff,” Steve said. 

“I’ll see if physical therapy can work on some stretches during your appointment.”

“Thanks, when is that?”

“I’ve got you scheduled for tomorrow morning after your final appointment with nephrology. Ortho is sending someone up after I leave to check your hand and get it casted,” Dr. Shelby said, pointing to Steve’s splinted and wrapped hand.

“Great,” Steve sighed. He knew his hand was going to become a lot more annoying once he was mobile. It would also be one of the last injuries to heal.

“If your kidney function and respiration stays normal, I think we can start looking at a possible discharge Tuesday or Wednesday.”

“That’s good,” Steve smiled. “It will be nice to sleep in my own bed.”

“Don’t act too eager to get out of here. I’ve seen how you’ve been talking with Nora,” Dr. Shelby smiled. Steve had been spending more and more time talking with one of the unit’s nurses.

“Let me give you a tip,” Shelby smiled. “She likes to stop by Liliha Bakery for coco puffs before her shift.”

“Uh,” Steve said bashfully. In all honesty, he had taken Catherine leaving him badly. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to start a new relationship, but the Tripler nurse had some great conversations with Steve over the week he was on forced bedrest.

“Oh, I’ve embarrassed the big bad SEAL,” Dr. Shelby laughed and slipped his chart back into its holder at the foot of his bed. “I’ve got to check in with other patients, but call the nurses if you need anything. I think you have quite the line of visitors waiting too.”

“Thanks, Dr. Shelby,” Steve grinned. He knew Danny, Mary, and maybe even the rest of the team were probably waiting to see him. Danny and Mary had visited him everyday. Chin visited him yesterday and brought Steve some books and magazines to keep himself busy with. Kono and Adam had smuggled in Steve’s favorite indian take out last night. Lou had stopped by Friday afternoon after returning from Chicago. The two talked about possibly upgrading the holding cells at HQ until Steve drifted asleep.

 

“Lieutenant Commander, I’m Dr. Kapoor,” a petite indian woman greeted Steve as she entered the room followed by what looked like a group of interns.

“I’m the orthopedic surgeon who worked on your hand. I’m here to check on the wound’s progress and then stabilize the bones with a fiberglass cast. Do you mind if the interns observe?”

“No, not at all,” Steve shook his head. “How long do you think it will take for my hand to heal fully?”

“Lieutenant…”

“Steve, please,” he corrected the doctor. He saw no need to be addressed so formally.

“Steve,” Dr. Kapoor said. “The initial injury to your hand wasn’t bad based on the first X-ray; however, the broken metacarpals obtained more damage. When you arrived here both your fourth and fifth metacarpals had oblique transposed fractures. Your pinky was also broken pretty badly and your hamate was fractured.”

“They said something about pins?”

“I was forced to insert two removable pins into your pinky and last metacarpal. Your fourth metacarpal has a pair of temporary screws that will stabilize your bones until they heal correctly,” Dr. Kapoor said. “Overall, we’re looking at six to eight weeks in a fiberglass cast followed by removing the pins and screws. After few weeks of wearing a removable splint and doing physical therapy exercises, I think you will have full function back.”

“So, we’re looking at ten to twelve weeks?” Steve groaned.

“At the earliest,” Dr. Kapoor said. “I’m going to help you remove the sling and cut off the surgical bandages.”

Steve’s right hand looked like a disaster. The skin was pruned from the antibiotic ointment that was slathered over the thin incision that was pulled together with dissolvable stitches. Bruising and betadine stains turned both sides of his hand, up his wrist, and down his last two fingers a mash of yellows, greens, blues and purples. Steve could see the tips of silver metal poking out of his skin and he winced at the unnatural sight.

Dr. Kapoor gently cleaned the skin and applied more antibiotic ointment over the surgical incision and metal pins. She pulled out a roll of white cast padding and quickly wrapped Steve’s forearm and hand, giving the interns a play-by-play of her actions. She wrapped the last of the soft white fabric around Steve’s last two fingers and the thin splint and she then secured the ends. 

“Any color, Steve?” Kapoor asked him.

“Uh, black’s fine,” Steve said. Over the years he has had almost every color available. He even had pink and purple casts that Gracie picked out for him. Danny had a laugh at those. Black usually matched everything… plus it didn’t stain easily.

Dr. Kapoor enlisted the help of one of the interns and wrapped the wet fiberglass roll from just below Steve’s elbow to the tip of his extended fingers.

“I want you to keep your arm still for the next hour. After that, you can go ahead and put that sling back on. Your shoulder is going to need it for the next week because of the ligament damage we found,” Dr. Kapoor instructed.

“Will do,” Steve said and rested his newly encased arm on the stack of pillows next to him. 

“I want to see you again in six weeks for a follow up set of X-rays. Please call me if you have any signs of problems,” Dr. Kapoor said and handed him a business card with her office hours, phone numbers, and email.

“Thanks, Dr. Kapoor,” Steve said.

“I trust you know how to care for that?” Dr. Kapoor pointed at the cast.

“Yes, avoid water. Don’t scratch at it. Keep it elevated and take pain meds when needed,” Steve rattled off the wound care protocol he had heard many times throughout his life.

“Exactly. I want you to rest the hand completely until the cast is taken off. Office work only, try to keep writing and typing to a minimum though,” Dr. Kapoor ordered. “I don’t want to fix it again.”

“I’ll try,” Steve said.

“See that you do. I’ll have one of the nurses come in later to help you with the sling,” Dr. Kapoor told Steve and led the group of interns out of his room.

Steve grabbed the TV remote and switched to Lifetime where Dance Moms was on. He was quickly engrossed in the upcoming competition where Abby refused to allow half of the girls to dance.

 

“Honestly, Steven,” Danny sighed as he entered the room.

“What?” Steve replied innocently.

“Dance Moms? Again?”

“It’s catchy,” Steve shrugged with one shoulder.

“It’s depraving. I would never let Gracie do this,” Danny said, but sat down and started to watch as well.

“I wouldn’t let Gracie do this, either,” Steve protested. “The dances, the makeup, the… the outfits,” Steve said outraged. 

“Not to mention Abby and the moms are terrible to one another and the girls,” Danny muttered.

“I know! If anyone ever tells Grace she is fat, I will personally hunt them down and take care of them,” Steve said.

“Aw, babe, thanks,” Danny joked with Steve; clearly approving Steve’s concern for his children’s wellbeing.

“No problem, Danno,” Steve smiled.

“Well, if you would like to turn this mess off, you have some visitors who would like to see you very much,” Danny smiled.

“Really! Who?!” Steve questioned Danny enthusiastically as he sat up further in the bed and smoothed the Navy issue t-shirt and shorts   
that Nora had smuggled in for him. Danny smiled at Steve’s efforts.

The man still looked a mess. The bruises had turned to yellows, browns, and greens. The swelling in his face had gone down and Danny could clearly see the line of close, even sutures that ran underneath Steve’s eyebrow. He could see the gap in Steve’s smile from the missing tooth. He supposed it was a blessing that Steve now had a healthy amount of black beard hiding the bruising along his jawline.  
The worst burns and cuts that weren’t hidden by Steve’s shirt were now covered by bandages and the rope burns were covered by fresh white gauze. The black cast was new to Danny, but was better than the old surgical bandages. Besides, it was mostly covered by the sling the nurses and doctors kept forcing Steve to use. Most of the wires and tubes had been slowly removed over the past few days, leaving Steve with one IV and a finger pulse oximeter.

“Calm down, SuperSEAL,” Danny said and helped Steve adjust his sheets. “It took some bargaining, but eventually your doctors agreed.”

“Danny,” Steve almost whinged. 

“I’ll be right back,” Danny smiled. He left the room and Steve could hear hurried whispers echoing into his room from the hallway.

“Gracie!” Steve smiled as Danny’s teenaged daughter entered the room closely followed by her father.

“Hi, Uncle Steve,” Grace smiled back. Steve could feel her eyes roam over him. He saw the girl frown.

“I’ve missed you. How have you been?” Steve asked the teen. He plastered a smile on his face even though his jaw hurt and the sutures above his eye pull.

“I missed you too, Uncle Steve,” Grace said and shifted awkwardly on her heels. “I’ve been ok.”

“That’s good, Grace.”

“How are you?” Grace asked cautiously.

“Bored,” Steve answered honestly, “Danno won’t let me do anything fun.”

“That’s because your idea of fun involves bodily harm,” Danny chastised Steve from his position near the window.

“No,” Steve argued back.

“Yes, it is, Steven,” Danny muttered.

“So, Uncle Steve, Danno says we are going to be spending next weekend at your place,” Grace cut into their building argument. She was a seasoned pro at mitigating her father and his best friend's squabbles.

“He did?” Steve asked her. Danny hadn’t told him this. He looked over at the Jersey born man.

“Uh, yeah. I hope you’re ok with that?” Danny said awkwardly.

“Yeah, Yeah!” Steve smiled at Danny. “I’d love to have you guys over. Maybe we can do a movie night?”

“Sure, Uncle Steve,” Grace smiled at him. Steve knew offering any water activities would be met with glares from Danny, besides, he couldn’t get his cast or any of his bandages wet.

“Uncle Steve?” Grace asked him nervously. 

“Grace?” Steve replied. He could see the young teen looking at him unsurely. She was biting her lip… just like her father did when he was uncertain.

“Are you ok? Like really ok?” She asked quietly. Steve frowned.

“Of course I am, Gracie,” Steve assured her. “Give me a few weeks and I’ll be back driving Danno’s car and making him back me up when I run after suspects.”

Grace laughed. Danny groaned. Both sounds made Steve genuinely smile.

“I’ve talked with the governor,” Danny warned Steve.

“And?”

“Chin and I are in charge of Five-0 until you are medically cleared for office work. You are also banned from field work until you can pass the HPD physical tests,” Danny told Steve.

“Danny,” Steve growled.

“Hey, it wasn’t just me,” Danny put his hands up in defense. “You’ll probably be cleared to come back to the office in two weeks, at most.”

“One,” Steve parried. Danny sighed.

“So, Steve, do you want anything from your place? I’m heading over there to ensure that none of your old buddies have destroyed the place or something while you were gone,” Danny changed the subject.

“Uh, thanks” Steve thought. “Just grab me some clothes. T-shirt, board shorts, slippahs,” Steve listed off.

“Ok,” Danny said. “I’ll bring a few pairs. Do you know when they’re releasing you?”

“Dr. Shelby said Tuesday or Wednesday,” Steve told Danny.

“Ok, I’ll be here to pick you up. Just send me a text or something,” Danny told him.

“Great,” Steve said. “I appreciate it.”

“Any day, buddy,” Danny grinned. The pair sat in silence for a beat until Grace started to talk with Steve about her cheer squad.

“Grace, we have to go pick up Charlie from Jerry. I’m afraid of what those two could have gotten into while we were here,” Danny said.

“But, Danno,” Grace protested. “We just got here.”

“Grace, we’ve been here for over an hour,” Danny pointed out.

“But…” Grace started,

“No, Uncle Steve is tired,” Danny pointed out. He noticed his partner starting to wince in pain as he moved about fifteen minutes ago and realized Steve was probably overdue for hiss next dose of medication. He also noticed Steve started to become quieter and quieter as he almost dozed off in the middle of their conversation.

“Oh,” Grace said and took a good look at her ‘uncle’. Her dad was right, Steve looked exhausted.

“Danny, it’s fine,” Steve said. “Talking with you guys is probably the best part of the day.”

“No, no. Steve, get some rest. I’ll be back in the morning,” Danny said.

“Bye, Uncle Steve!” Grace waved from the door. 

“Bye, Grace. Tell Charlie hi for me? See you later, Danny.” 

Steve waved back and let himself melt into the pillows once his visitors are out of the room. Danny was right. He was exhausted. His head was pounding and his back was tight. His neck ached from the pressure of the sling, but he could feel the pain easing as he leaned back in the pillows and the weight of his arm and the cast transferred to his chest. He could feel his ribs starting to protest about fifteen minutes after Danny arrived with Grace. Too much time sitting up and talking with people all day.

He shifted his body in the bed until he found a semi-comfortable position. He took a few deep breaths and let his eyes fall shut. He heard someone open his room’s door and he sighed.

‘Was it too much to ask to be left alone?’ he thought to himself as he opened his eyes.

He smiled. It was Nora.

“Hi, Steve,” she smiled. Her voice was quiet.

“Hi, Nora,” he responded. He really was bone tired.

“I’m just going to give you your dose of meds and then I’ll let you sleep,” she informed him.

“Ok,” he agreed. He could feel the cool liquid slipping into his veins moments later.

“Do you need anything else, Steve?” She asked Steve. 

“No, I’m good. Thanks, Nora,” Steve told her.

“Just doing my job,” Nora shrugged and left his room. Steve smiled and let himself float into a peaceful sleep.


	10. Chapter 10: Coco Puffs

Steve looked at himself in the small bathroom mirror.  He could finally see out of both of his eyes, but he was starting to think maybe that wasn’t the best thing.  

 

Yellow and green bruises sat across his face.  A row of small, even sutures made a black puffy line between eyelid and eyebrow.  Scabs formed rough rusty brown patches on his cheeks and the bridge of his nose where the beatings had split and scraped his skin.  His lips were dry, peeling, and had a deep crack that still bled if Steve wasn’t careful.

 

He hadn’t had the energy or dexterity to even attempt to shave the two weeks of facial hair that had formed a black mask over his jaw.  It was probably for the best. Steve could still feel the bruises and cuts along his jawline.

 

Steve picked up the toothbrush and travel mint toothpaste and focused on gently brushing his teeth.  He was clumsy. The small plastic handle felt awkward in his left hand and Steve couldn’t figure out the right amount of pressure yet.  His teeth and jaw were still sensitive and he could always feel the empty space between his teeth where his premolar was knocked clean out of his gums, so he erred on the edge of too gentle rather than too rough in order to save himself from another mouthful of bloody spit.

 

He spat the suds out, swished some water around, and spat again.  He pulled the collar of his t-shirt up and wiped the edges of his mouth.  He took one last look in the mirror and stiffly shuffled out of his bathroom. 

 

Steve decided to forgo the bed and instead sit in what he started to refer as ‘Danny’s Chair’.  He grabbed the remote and flicked on the TV. It was Wednesday. He was scheduled to be released today.  He had to promise Dr. Kapoor and Dr. Shelby to follow all their rules. He was to take ALL his medications on time.  He was to attend all his follow up appointments and physical therapy sessions. He was to perform all of his physical therapy exercises.  He was to rest when he was tired. He was to sleep at least eight hours a day. He was to eat healthy meals, often. He was to drink plenty of water.  He was not to workout, swim, or work…. ETC.

 

Danny had made sure that he was informed of all of Steve’s restrictions, medication schedules, appointments, and more.  He was already a mother hen to Steve. He insisted on picking Steve up from the hospital that afternoon. He insisted on Steve riding in the wheelchair all the way to the SUV Danny had borrowed from Lou, saying it would be easier on Steve’s ribs because he didn’t have to bend over to get in… and Steve was slightly thankful for that.

 

“Renee has left us some lunch if you want some?”  Danny questioned Steve who was slumped in the recliner.

 

“Nah, I’m good,” Steve replied.

 

“You sure?”  Danny asked, his head peeking around the doorway from the kitchen.

 

“Yeah,” Steve sighed.  He really wasn’t that hungry after the drive home and the walk into the house.

 

“Ok,” Danny sighed.  “But you will have to eat something with your medications at two.”

 

“Fine,” Steve said, not really wanting to argue with Danny.

 

“Why don’t you take a nap?  I’m going to call Chin,” Danny said.

 

“How’s the case going?” Steve asked curiously.

 

“Slowly,” Danny sighed.  “We’re getting ready to transfer the case to the FBI.  It’s too big for us to handle on our own.”

 

“Ah,” Steve said.  He caught onto Danny’s disappointment with having to give up the case.

 

“We’re still going to be in charge of the Hawaii section of it, though.  Kono and Chin are looking into the human trafficking ring. Jerry is trying to identify Locklear and Kerry’s victims and notify the families.”

 

“How many?”  Steve asked, not sure if he even wanted to know.

 

“It’s hard to tell, but we found videos of you, Kahele, Barna, and four others.  There is evidence of maybe three others as well,” Danny said darkly.

 

“Fuck,” Steve swore.  How had they missed this?  Seven unknown victims… how had HPD and Five-0 missed this?

 

“Look, Steve.  I know what you’re thinking,” Danny said quietly, softly.  He sat on the couch next to the recliner and leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees.

 

Steve doesn’t respond.

 

“Steve, don’t.  We couldn’t have known about this.  Those monsters were careful. They were careful to only abduct people from the homeless or vagrant communities,” Danny said.  His voice sounded haunted and Steve looked over at his best friend.

 

Danny looked more than exhausted.  He looked haggard. He had dark circles under his eyes and a thin layer of ‘un-Danny-like’ stubble lining his jaw and cheeks.  His eyes were tinged with pink and looked dry. There were stress wrinkles on Danny’s face and Steve could see the stiffness in Danny’s posture.

 

“Ok, Danny,” Steve relented.  “I’m going to take a nap. You should too… you look tired, man.”

 

“Pot. Kettle.  Man, Pot. Kettle,” Danny snorted, but kicked his dress shoes off, spread his body out on Steve’s sofa and closed his eyes.

 

Steve smirked at his partner who was trying to find a spot on the old sofa that wasn’t lumpy and let himself relax as well.  He really had been sleeping a lot lately, but damn was he tired.

  
  


“‘eve… Steve. Hey,”  Steve heard someone say.  “Steve.”

 

“Wha…” Steve muttered sleepily.

 

“Steve, wake up,” the pesky voice prompted again.

 

“Go ‘way,” Steve groaned.  His head hurt already. His hand burned, itched, and cramped at the same time.  It was a true mystery on how that could happen. His back was stiff again.

 

“No, come on, babe,” the voice said again.  “You have to eat something, drink something, and take your medications.”

 

Steve forced his eyes open and saw Danny’s hazy form leaning over the side of the recliner.  Steve blinked a few times to clear his eyes and forced himself to sit up. He braced his left arm across his busted ribs and took a few calming breaths.

 

“Want to stay here or go somewhere else?” Danny asked him.

 

“Here’s fine,” Steve said.  He really didn’t want to get out of the chair… or walk.

 

“Ok, Steve.  Renee left us some homemade soup and what looks like turkey sandwiches,” Danny said as he went into the kitchen.

 

“Just soup for now,” Steve said.  His sensitive jaw and teeth had made eating solids difficult.

 

“Fine, but you’re going to have to eat something bigger for dinner.  Doctor’s orders,” Danny reminded him from inside the kitchen.

 

Steve groaned, but Danny must not have heard because when he came back into the room Danny was carrying a wooden tray Steve didn’t even know he owned.  The tray was crowded with a bowl of soup, Steve’s favorite reusable water bottle he swore he left in the office, and an array of pill bottles.

 

“Here,” Danny said and set the tray on Steve’s knees.

 

“Thanks, Danny,” Steve said and started to eat.  The soup was actually very good. He would have to thank Lou and Renee for it the next time he saw them.  It was a big improvement from the bland, lukewarm hospital food he had been forced to eat over the past week, with the exception of the food his visitors had smuggled in for him.

 

“Yeah, yeah, you neanderthal,” Danny smiled and helped Steve open the pill bottles.  Childproof caps and one handed SEALs weren’t a good combination. Ever. He had learnt that the hard way when Steve burnt his hand trying to put out a fire that had broken out on one of their crime scenes years ago.

 

There was an antibiotic, a mild muscle relaxer, a pain reliever, an anti-inflammatory, and a few pills that Danny couldn’t make out the use for.  Danny placed each medication on the tray and handed Steve the water bottle when he had finished with the soup.

 

“Meds, water, then you can go back to sleep or something,” Danny ordered.  Steve didn’t argue. He put each pill in his mouth and swallowed them down with a gulp of water one by one until they were all gone.  He knew once they kicked in he would be drowsy.

 

“I’m gonna go to bed, Danny,” Steve muttered and made to get out of the recliner.  Danny hastily grabbed Steve’s good arm and helped him up, noticing how his friend wobbled a little when he was finally standing.

 

“Alright, Steve, why don’t we get you upstairs,” Danny said and helped guide, corral, and eventually manhandle Steve up the stairs and into the master bedroom.  

 

Once Steve was in bed, water on the nightstand, phone plugged in and charging within Steve’s reach, Danny turned out the lights, closed the door, and made his way into Steve’s office.  It was time to work.

  
  


“... no, he’s still sleeping,” Steve heard as he awoke.  “I’m going to wake him around seven if he doesn’t wake up.  He needs to eat and I don’t want him up all night.”

 

Steve let his eyes adjust to the light of his room.  For the first time in a week and a half, Steve was laying in his own bed.  Someone must have changed his sheets for him because he was encased in crisp, fresh smelling linens.

 

Steve allowed himself to stay on his comfortable mattress and not move for a good five minutes until he heard Danny hang up the phone.  He forced himself to sit up and slide his legs over the side of the bed. The wooden floor is cold on his bare feet, but he forced himself to stand up and limp slowly into his bathroom.

 

Steve had managed to hobble downstairs without Danny realizing it by going slowly, using the wooden railings, and stepping over the squeaky seventh stair.  He sank into the couch and pulls his laptop onto his knees.

 

He struggled to type in his password with his left hand, but he eventually typed in the correct alphanumeric sequence and was greeted with his homescreen.  He opened the HPD portal and started to read.

 

“McGarrett,” Steve heard a few minutes into his search.  Danny did not sound happy.

 

“Williams,” Steve said back.

 

“How did you get down here?” Danny asked, hands on his hips.

 

“I walked,” Steve shrugged with one shoulder.

 

“He walked, he says,” Danny ranted, arms going wild.  

 

“Danny,” Steve rolled his eyes, “I’m fine.”

 

“No, you my friend,” Danny waved again.  “You are not fine! You are insane!”

 

“Was there any signs of any more suspects on the island?” Steve quickly changed the subject.

 

“NO!” Danny ranted, “You are not working on this!”

 

“Danny, you can either talk to me or I’m going to make some calls,” Steve warned Danny.  Danny knew Kono, Jerry, and about half a dozen HPD connections would talk with Steve.

 

“Fine,”  Danny sighed.  “We have interviewed all of your rugby friends.  They were all terrified with Kerry and Locklear’s actions.”

 

“They’re mostly good guys,” Steve shrugged again.  “What about any other connections?”

 

“We’ve talked with our CI’s and no one has heard of the organization.  It’s starting to look like Kerry and Locklear were the only two on the islands,” Danny informed Steve.

 

“Have you looked into the Triads?  Yakuza?” Steve asked.

 

“Yeah, we did.  There was no financial interactions with any organized crime syndicates.  We also didn’t find any connections between any of our victims here in Hawaii and organized crime,” Danny said.  “We have Jerry and Toast looking further into the computers, but as of right now…”

 

“It’s over?”  Steve finished for him.

 

“Yeah, it’s over,” Danny confirmed.  “A lot of paperwork. A lot of follow up investigations.  A lot of talking with the FBI, but our investigation is over.”

 

“Good,” Steve said.

 

“So, why don’t you give me the computer,” Danny prompted Steve.  “We’ll make sure to leave you plenty of paperwork to do when you get back to the office.”

 

“Fuck you, Danno,” Steve told his friend, but handed over the laptop anyways.

 

“Love ya too, babe,” Danny smiled at Steve and flicked the TV on.  The pair sat watching one of the episodes of Game of Thrones Steve had recorded.

  
  


“Hey, boss!”  Kono greeted Steve as he walked through the front doors of headquarters.  It was his first day back. It was Monday, just a week and a half after he was released from the hospital, and he was so happy to be back at work.  He wasn’t used to relaxing.

 

“Kono,” Steve smiled.  “Danny in yet?”

 

“Not yet, give him an hour,” Kono said.  “It’s only seven.”

 

“Hmm, maybe I’ll have to make a trip for some coco puffs before he gets here.”

 

“Get me some,” Kono called after him as Steve left the office again.

 


End file.
